KARACHI:
This is with reference to the editorial ‘Questionable remission’ published in your newspaper on July 31. Let us recall that justice in Khadija Siddiqui’s case from the onset was very feeble — being strangled by privilege and almost aborted by the Lahore High Court. The Supreme Court had to intervene with a suo motu action to put Shah Hussain, the man convicted of stabbing Khadija 23 times, behind bars. The reasoning provided by the Lahore High Court would leave anyone dumbfounded. It was one of the worst cases of institutionally sanctioned victim blaming I have ever seen.
In a turn of events, Hussain was released earlier last month after only serving three and a half years out of his five-year sentence. His release came on the account of good conduct, which included blood donation, education, and learning the Quran. Apparently, this was sufficient to reduce the sentence of an attempted murderer. The sudden release of Hussain blatantly exposes the loopholes in our justice system and calls for the immediate reformation of our laws that fail to protect women and serve them justice.
Mariam Khan
Lahore
Published in The Express Tribune, August 3rd, 2021.
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