KARACHI: An additional district and sessions court sentenced on Thursday a convict to life in prison in a murder case.

Akram, alias Babu, was found guilty of killing Sheikh Farooq at the latter’s house in North Nazimabad in October 2010. The additional district and sessions judge (central), Rashida Siddiqui, read out the conviction order after hearing both sides.

According to the prosecution, the accused used to borrow money from the deceased and on the day of the incident he also came for the same purpose and upon refusal he gunned down Sheikh Farooq.

A case was registered under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of a son of the victim.

The accused was on bail and following the pronouncement of the judgement, he was taken into custody and sent to prison along with a conviction warrant to serve out the sentence.

Film director, two accomplices indicted

A sessions court on Thursday indicted a film director and his two female accomplices in a murder case.

Mansoor Mujahid, director of an award-winning film, has been charged with killing his friend Faisal Nabi in an apartment in Defence Housing Authority in June last year, while his friend Anab Hameed and a companion of the deceased, Masuma Zainab Abidi, were also charged with abetment.

While reading out the charges to the accused, additional district and sessions judge (south) Abdul Qudoods Memon said that the male accused along with his female partners with their common intention and consultation opened fire on the deceased with an unlicensed weapon and dumped his body in the parking lot of an apartment after stabbing and burning it in order to hide the identify of the deceased.

The court further stated that when an inquiry officer along with some relatives of the deceased questioned the accused, Mansoor confessed to have shot his friend twice while Anab disclosed to have stabbed the victim and they led the police to a place where the body, pistol, daggers, blood-stained pillow and bedcovers were found.

It added that Anab further disclosed during interrogation that the deceased had assaulted her a few days before the incident and she wrote it in her diary, which was read by Mansoor.

According to the prosecution, Mansoor and his friends were consuming some party drugs at the apartment of Anab and in the meanwhile he allegedly shot dead the victim after a heated argument.

A case was registered under Sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of the victim’s brother-in-law at the Clifton police station.

Mansoor was also booked under the Sindh Arms Act in an illicit weapon case. However, an assistant session judge acquitted him in March for lack of evidence.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2014