KARACHI, Jan 21: The additional district and sessions judge, East, Rana Zaki Shamsi, on Monday, adjourned the hearing of a case pertaining to the murder of a 12-year-old boy till Feb 4.
Earlier, on Jan 4 the judge had summoned all the prosecution witnesses to appear in court to testify in the case on Jan 21. However, on failure of the witnesses to comply with the orders, the judge has reissued notices to all the prosecution witnesses to record their statements on the next date of hearing.
The court had indicted the accused, Hafiz Manzoor Ahmed, a Moazzin, on the charges of killing a 12-year-old boy in a mosque in Shah Faisal Colony. He pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the case.
The accused through his counsel moved a bail application. The court would take up the application on the next hearing.
According to the prosecution, the body of the boy, Mohammad Anas, was found hanging in Masjid-i-Aqsa, in Shah Faisal Colony on Oct 30, 2007. Police suspected that the boy was murdered and it was not a suicide case.
Anas, hailing from Muzaffargarh in Punjab, had been staying with his maternal grandfather Qari Abdul Rahman, a teacher at the madressah adjacent to the mosque.
The Shah Fasial Colony police had registered a case (FIR No 294/2007) under Section 302 of Pakistan Penal Code against Hafiz Manzoor Ahmed, Moazzin of the mosque. The accused was arrested on Nov 1 and was sent to jail.
Judicial Magistrate, East, Maqbool Ahmed Memon, has already recorded a confessional statement of the accused.
The investigation officer, Sub-inspector Ghulam Mustafa Shah, of Shah Fasial Colony police station had submitted a charge-sheet to the court of judical magistrate-I, East, on Nov 15.
The IO said in the charge-sheet that the accused had tried to sexually assault the boy, but on the boy’s resistance, the accused killed him.
About 14 prosecution witnesses, including Mohammad Naveed Akthar, Qari Abdul Rahman, Noman, Raees Noori, Dr Abdul Jabbar (medico-legal officer of the JPMC), SI Yusuf Niazi and ASI Amin Memon, will testify in the case on the next hearing.
Zardari’s absence condoned
An additional district and sessions judge-II, East, Naseem Mansoor, condoned the absence of Asif Ali Zardari in the murder case of Mir Murtaza Bhutto till March 8 on the request of the defence counsel.
The defence counsel, Shahadat Awan, appeared on behalf of his client in the case and submitted an application for condoning the absence of the accused stating that Asif Zardari was busy receiving condolences over the death of his wife and former primer minister, Benazir Bhutto, and was out of the country so unable to appear in court.
The court accepted the application and directed the accused to appear on the next date of hearing.
The case pertains to the murder of Mir Murtaza Bhutto, his close aide Ashique Hussain Jatoi and six other workers of the PPP (Shaheed Bhutto) on Sept 20, 1996, near his residence in Clifton in an alleged shootout with the police.
Asif Zardari, Shoaib Suddle, Wajid Durrani, Masood Sharif, Shahid Hayat, Rai Mohammed Tahir, Shabbir Ahmed Qaimkhani, Agha Mohammed Jameel and other policemen are accused in the case.
Couple’s murder case
The additional district and sessions judge, Central, Tasneem Sultana, recorded the final arguments on a bail application from both the sides and reserved the order till Feb 28.
The accused, Shaikh Abdul Majeed, father of the deceased groom, Hafiz Sheikh Mohammad Azeem, through his counsel had moved a bail application in the court.
According to the prosecution, Hafiz Shaikh Mohammad Azeem and his bride Beenish were found dead under mysterious circumstances the next morning of their wedding night in their North Nazimabad apartment in the limits of Taimuria police on Aug 11, 2007.
Earlier, the court had rejected a pre-arrest bail application of Shaikh Abdul Majeed and sent him to jail. The investigation officer (IO) had submitted an interim charge-sheet to the court, in which he had nominated Shaikh Abdul Majeed, as the main accused in the case.
Later, the court sent the accused to jail.