Benefit of doubt: Five acquitted of murder charge

They were accused of setting a woman alight for not bearing a child

LAHORE: Additional District and Sessions Judge Shahzeb Saeed on Saturday acquitted five people of a murder charge giving them the benefit of doubt.

Nabeela, Rabia, Farzana, Naseem Bibi and Kamran were accused of setting ablaze Jameela, the wife of Kamran, on October 6, 2010, for not bearing a child. She had succumbed to the injuries two months later.

On October 9, 2010, Jameela had recorded a statement before police. She said she had married Kamran in 2005 but the couple had had no child. She said Kamran would quarrel with her over petty issues and use derogatory language.

She said that on October 6, 2010, Kamran had brought a woman, Nabeela, to their home. She said they had an argument when she asked him who she was. He had later left the house saying that he was going to her sister’s place, she said. She said she had then gone to his sister’s house and found Kamran and Nabeela there.

She said they had another argument following which he and Nabeela, Rabia, Farzana and Naseem Bibi had set her alight. She said some neighbours had entered the house to rescue her and taken her to a hospital.

The counsel for the accused denied that they had set Jameela ablaze. He said that she had committed suicide. The counsel for the complainant said, “She did not commit suicide. Her husband used to taunt her for not giving birth to a child but she did not commit suicide. Why would she kill herself on seeing another woman with him?”

Ghulam Fatima, Jameela’s mother, had filed a compliant against the suspects and some police officials submitting that the “murder” had not been probed transparently. She had requested the court to punish the suspects under Sections 302 (murder) and 109/34 (abetting crime/commotion) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 6^th, 2015.