Verdict in US woman murder case expected this week

Prosecution and defence counsels record statements during final arguments

RAWALPINDI:

The murder case of Pakistani-American woman Wajiha Swati has entered its final stages with judgement expected this week after the conclusion of the final arguments.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka recorded the statements of the public prosecutors and the defence counsels for all the six suspects in the case.

All the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges. The arrested woman accused, Zahida, also refused to have washed out the crime scene after the incident.

The counsels for the parties have started the final arguments which will continue today [Thursday], while the judgment is likely to be announced this week.

On Wednesday, in addition to the American FBI team, officials from the American Embassy in Islamabad were also present in the court during the hearing of the case.

This case was registered by the Morgah police station on October 17, 2021. The victim had a dispute with the main accused of the case, her ex-husband Rizwan Habib, over a valuable property worth billions of rupees.

The accused fraudulently called the victim from America to settle the dispute. However, on her arrival in the garrison city on October 16, she was brutally murdered by her ex-husband who shifted her body from Rawalpindi to the Lakki Marwat area of ​​Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in his car and buried it in a pit.

After the murder, the accused kept searching for the victim alongside the police. However, on his arrest, he revealed the secret and helped recover the body he had buried in the pit.

The main accused's father Hurriyatullah, the driver and domestic servants Sultan, Rashid and Yusuf are co-accused in the case.

Earlier this month, American doctor, Dr Anthony Vinson, who conducted Swati’s post-mortem recorded his statement from Washington through a video link.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10^th, 2022.