Court proceedings: Family pardons man who killed his mother

Public prosecutor argues suspect cannot be pardoned as offence falls within Fasad-Fil-Arz clause

KARACHI: The man, who allegedly killed his mother over a domestic dispute, has been pardoned by his family, a district and sessions court was informed on Saturday.

Ghulam Rabbani, an official of State Bank of Pakistan, was arrested in February after he reportedly confessed to killing his mother, Naseem Akhtar, in his flat in Clifton.

A report was submitted before the District South sessions court judge, Imdad Hussain Khoso, by the suspect's attorney. The lawyer said that his client reached a compromise with his siblings, including four brothers and a sister, over the matter and they subsequently pardoned him.



The sister, Tanvir Fatima, named in the report, is also the only eyewitness in the case, as she was involved in the dispute that culminated in the unfortunate episode.

The case was embroiled in controversies as the suspect kept changing his statements from confessing to the crime and then denying it. At the time of his arrest, he admitted before police and a judicial magistrate that he killed his mother. Later on, he denied and asserted that his mother was killed on resisting robbery in their house. However, the police completed its investigations and submitted a report in the court which, quoting the suspect, stated that the deceased had apparently came under the influence of some 'evil spirits' and was trying to kill Fatima.

The suspect claims that he stabbed his mother only to save his sister's life.

Public prosecutor Siraj Ansari opposed the compromise report and argued that the parties mentioned in it could not pardon the suspect. It is a case liable to Qisas and the offence fell with the clause of Fasad-Fil-Arz, he added. The judge, after listening to the arguments, adjourned the hearing till April 22 and asked the prosecutor to submit more explanation.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 17^th, 2016.