Gulgee, wife's murderers handed down life imprisonment

Court also orders convicts to pay a fine of Rs100,000 each

KARACHI: Two men were sentenced on Tuesday to life imprisonment after having been convicted by a sessions court in the murder case of artist Ismail Gulgee, his wife and maid around nine years ago.

The District South Additional Sessions Judge VIII, Sarah Junejo, awarded 25 years rigorous imprisonment to Akram Ali and Muhammad Anwar, who were both servants of the murdered couple, as the prosecution successfully established charges against them.

The court also ordered the convicts to pay a compensation of Rs100,000 each to the heirs of the deceased people. In case of non-payment of the aforesaid compensation, the sentence of convicts will be extended by six months, the court decreed.



Award-winning painter Gulgee, his wife Zareen and maid Asiya were found dead in their Clifton Block 3 residence in December, 2007. The bodies were discovered by the couple's only son, Amin, who lived next door to them.

According to Amin, he had not visited his parents for many days due to his busy schedule and on December 19 he noticed that his parents' house was locked and their car was not parked outside. He rang them multiple times but received no answer. Ultimately he broke the lock and found all three of them dead inside.

The case, 490/2007, was registered under sections 302 (premeditated murder), 380 (theft in dwelling house), 381-A (theft of a car or other motor vehicle) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal code, 1860 at the Boat Basin Police Station.



The prosecution maintained that the suspects robbed the house and strangled the couple to death. They also killed the maid on the following day when she appeared for work.

The case was lingering for years for a number of reasons. Couple of judges, in different spells, heard the case. Some of them also reserved their verdict. But it was never announced and the arguments were heard again.

The police booked the deceased's driver, Ali, and another servant, Anwar, on suspicion as both of them had gone missing after the incident and were arrested two months later from a hotel near the Cantonment Railway Station.



A suitcase was recovered from the suspects that carried a Nikon F-5 camera and two paintings made by the slain artist. The victim's Toyota Sedan car was also found from their possession.

The prosecution maintained that the suspects robbed the house and strangled the couple after torturing with a baton. They also killed the maid the following day when she appeared for work.

The case lingered for years for a number of reasons. Couple of judges, in different spells, heard the case. They also reserved their verdict but it was never announced and the arguments were heard again.

In her judgment, the judge observed that the convicts were not awarded death penalty because all the evidences in the case were circumstantial.



Besides, the judge also awarded the convicts an imprisonment of seven years for the offence of stealing the paintings, camera and car of the artist. Both the sentences will, however, run concurrently and only the longest term will be counted as the total imprisonment time.