State to challenge acquittal of prime suspect in Qandeel Baloch murder case

Maleeka Bokhari says ‘weak interpretation of law’ in honour killing cases can’t be allowed

ISLAMABAD:

Declaring her opposition to any “weak interpretation of law”, Parliamentary Secretary for Law Maleeka Bokhari on Saturday said that the state will contest the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) acquittal of the prime suspect in the Qandeel Baloch murder case.

In a tweet, the government official said that the state will challenge the high court’s verdict in the Supreme Court. She said that the murder of innocent women under “the false pretext of honour” and decisions which “disregard evidence and are premised upon the weak interpretation of the law cannot be allowed”.

She further stated that abolishing the life imprisonment awarded to the suspect would set a “dangerous precedent”. Qandeel, a 26-year-old social media celebrity, was strangled to death in 2016. Her brother Mohammad Waseem confessed to the crime at a news conference the same year, revealing the motive to be “honour”.

Initially, Qandeel’s parents dismissed any possibility of giving absolution to their son, who had shown no remorse for killing his sister, who he said had “brought dishonour to the Baloch name”. However, they changed their mind later on, and informed the court that they had forgiven the suspects in the case. Despite their pardon, the court went on to hand Waseem a life sentence in 2019.

On February 14, the LHC’s Multan bench cancelled life imprisonment of the accused after witnesses deviated from their statements in the trial court and Qandeel’s mother submitted a reconciliation agreement stipulating parental pardon.

Waseem’s acquittal was also confirmed by his lawyer Sardar Mahboob, who told a local news outlet that his client was “wrongly” sentenced under Section 311 of Pakistan Penal Code, which is usually invoked after the suspect is pardoned. He pointed out that the court handed him the life sentence on the basis of his confession and statements of witnesses, all of which were police officials.

It is worth noting here that prior to Waseem’s conviction, Qandeel’s parents had submitted an affidavit saying that the Anti-Honour Killing Laws (Criminal Amendment Bill) 2015, which restricts victim’s family from pardoning the killers, could not be applied to this case as it was passed after her daughter’s murder.

Last week, following the high court’s acquittal of the prime suspect, Maleeka took to Twitter to reveal that the state was “reviewing legal options” in the light of law and apex court judgments in the murder case of the social media celebrity. She highlighted that the law had been amended to ensure that those who murder women under the pretext of honour do not walk free.