PESHAWAR, May 7: The court of sessions court, Kohat, has sent a reference to the Federal Shariat Court for confirmation of the sentence of death by stoning in public awarded to Ms Zafran in a Hudood case.

A source in the local Shariat Court’s office confirmed on Tuesday that they had received a reference and sent it to the Chief Justice in Islamabad.

Under the Federal Shariat Court (Procedure) Rules, 1981, such a reference has to be sent to the Shariat Court.

The Shariat Court has to hear the reference as an appeal. The woman, who was sentenced by the additional district and sessions judge of Kohat on April 17, has already filed an appeal before the Shariat Court. The Chief Justice of the Shariat Court, Justice Fazal Ilahi Khan, has already suspended the sentence. On Saturday, he admitted the appeal to regular hearing.

Also, the Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court, Justice Mian Shakirullah, has asked the concerned additional district and sessions judge, Anwer Ali Khan, to meet him at the high court. Although, the purpose of the meeting could not be ascertained, sources claimed that the meeting was in connection with the same verdict.

Meanwhile, the woman has claimed that she had not committed adultery and that her husband was the father of the female infant declared illegitimate by the court.

Zafran put her thumb impression on an affidavit prepared by her counsel on Monday, praying the Federal Shariat Court to acquit her as she was innocent. It was stated that the FIR registered on March 26, 2001, at the Gambat police station was not based on facts as she was not raped by anybody.

The officials of the Kohat district prison told Dawn that the affidavit prepared in Urdu was read out in Pushto to Zafran as she didn’t understand Urdu. After receiving Zafran’s thumb impression the officials handed over the affidavit to one of her counsel, Muhammad Kamran Iqbal.

Mr Iqbal told Dawn that as the prison authorities had not been allowing any person, including her counsel, to meet her, therefore, the Kohat district Nazim, Malik Asad, had requested the authorities for taking her thumb impression on the affidavit.

Advocate Malik Fakhre Azam told this correspondent on the premises of the Kohat district courts that the affidavit would be submitted to the Shariat Court.

The public prosecutor, Khursheed Anwer Khattak, defended the verdict, stating that after recording Zafran’s confessional statement the trial court had no other option under the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance, but to convict her.