TAXILA: A court in Pindigheb on Thursday handed down life imprisonment to a man and his father for setting fire to his wife.

Shahid Iqbal Khan and his father Muneer Ahmed were found guilty of killing Fakhra Yaseen on October 7, 2021.

Additional Sessions Judge Irfan Ahmed Sheikh also ordered the convicts to pay Rs500,000 as compensation to the legal heirs of the woman or undergo additional imprisonment of six-months.

According to the prosecution, Khan contracted marriage with Fakhra in 2012 but the couple remained issueless. Over the issue, Ahmed poured kerosene over his daughter-in-law and his son set her on fire. The injured was later shifted to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital where she died. The accused cooked up a story that the victim caught fire in an accidental fire while preparing breakfast.

In his statement recorded under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code, both the accused denied the allegations and claimed to have been framed. The prosecution also produced a medical officer of the hospital who deposed that the cause of the death was cardiopulmonary arrest due to fire burn injuries.

He also produced three witnesses in his defence, however, the judge did not consider their testimonies strong enough to dent the case of the prosecution.

The case was registered with Pindigheb police station on the complaint of the victim’s brother.

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2023