KARACHI, Nov 13: An additional district and sessions court on Thursday sentenced an accused to life imprisonment in a case pertaining to the murder of a 35-year-old man in 2001.

The court found Fazal Waheed guilty of killing his neighbour Abdul Sattar in the limits of the Peerabad police station.

The additional district and sessions judge (I), west, Ahmed Saba, who conducted the trial, pronounced the verdict after recording the final arguments from both sides.

The judge also imposed a fine of Rs25,000. In case of non-payment of the fine, the convict will have to undergo an additional two-year imprisonment.

The accused was already in jail custody and the court remanded him back to serve the awarded imprisonment.

The judgment said the prosecution had successfully proved its case against the accused by providing ample evidence before court.

The prosecution had produced three eyewitnesses, Mohammad Rahim, Abdul Wahab and Qadir Jalal, who confirmed before the investigation officer in their statements recorded under Section 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code and also before the court of a judicial magistrate under Section 164, CrPC, as well as in the trial court that the accused had stabbed the victim on Oct 18, 2001 in Frontier Colony and later the victim succumbed to his injuries, it said, adding that Shah Zaman Khan, an independent witness, also testified against the accused. The statements of the eyewitnesses and other evidence provided by the prosecution proved that the accused had committed the crime, it concluded.

According to the prosecution, the accused had attacked Abdul Sattar with a sharp-edged weapon in Frontier Colony on Oct 18, 2001 over a petty dispute. The victim could not survive though he was rushed to hospital.

The accused was indicted on April 22, 2002 on murder charges. However, he pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the case.

The case (FIR 222/01) was registered against him under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of Abdul Jalal, a brother of the deceased, at the Peerabad police station. The accused was arrested a day after the incident.

Afreen murder case

An additional district and sessions court recorded the statements of the accused in murder case of a TV producer, Afreen Baig, on Thursday.

The accused, Farooq Mengal and Mohammad Bux Umrani, denied the charges saying they were implicated in the case.

The judge, Sultan Mohammad Awan, who is conducting the trial inside the Central Prison, adjourned the hearing till Nov 29 for final arguments.

Afreen Baig, a TV artiste and producer, was killed at her DHA residence in October 2004 allegedly by her driver, Mohammad Bux Umrani, and his wife, Zahida.

Her husband, Farooq Mengal, allegedly masterminded the murder. The driver and his wife, who was a maid at Mengal’s house, are the co-accused in the case. Zahida is the absconder in the case.

The prosecution said that Mohammad Bux Umrani, in his confessional statement before a judicial magistrate, stated that he had killed the woman because Farooq Mengal had asked him to do so.
Source: Dawn
Date:11/14/2008