Five murders: SC restores 70-year jail term for convict

Sets aside high court judgment to release murderer after 14 years

ISLAMABAD: After the passage of 16 years, the top court has restored the punishment of a man, who was initially jailed for 70 years but served only 14 for slaughtering his wife and four minor kids.

While the separate jail terms for five murders were to run consecutively, the convict won a reprieve from the high court, which allowed the sentences to run concurrently. Thus, the man only served 14 years in jail.



In 1992, the Multan police booked Muhammad Akram for the murders of his wife, Azra Parveen, three minor daughters Shagufta, Kiran and Aneeqa, and a minor son, Waqar, by slitting their throats. On June 13, 1993, the trial court announced the verdict.

Akram was found guilty and convicted under separate laws for the murder of his wife and children. He was awarded the death penalty for the ‘wilful murder’ of his wife. For the murder of his four kids, he was to undergo 14 years imprisonment on each count.

The court also announced the jail sentences would run consecutively, summing up the whole punishment as 54 years in jail.



On April 9, 1994 however, the Supreme Appellate Court Lahore converted his death sentence for the murder of his wife into another 14-year term, which was also to run consecutively with the four other counts.


Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2015.