Murder case: Accused wife denied bail

Victim was abducted, strangled and then dumped in drain.

LAHORE:

Additional District and Sessions Judge Sadiq Masood has dismissed the post-arrest bail plea of a woman accused of murdering her husband in connivance with her lover.

Petitioner Irum Azeem submitted that she was innocent and had been languishing in jail for six months.

The complainant in the FIR, the petitioner’s father-in-law, had first told police that his son Azeem Rehmat had been abducted from just outside their house by two unidentified people in May. Rehmat’s body was later found in a drain. The complainant then filed a supplementary statement saying that Rehmat’s wife Iram and Yaqoob Masih had kidnapped his son, strangled him, and dumped his body in a drain.

The counsel for the petitioner contended that there were two versions of the complaint, both wildly different. He said there was no evidence to support the complainant’s supplementary statement. There was also no witness to the murder. He said his client had already been behind bars for six months and should be granted bail.

The prosecution contended that the petitioner and co-accused Yaqoob Masih had been having an affair and they had conspired to kill Azeem Rehmat.

The judge dismissed the bail petition, noting that the deceased was last seen alive in the company of the petitioner. He also noted that information gained from the accused, upon interrogation by the police, had led to the recovery of the victim’s mobile phone and motorcycle, as well as the rope that was used to strangle him.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th, 2012.