Justice done

Justice has been done in yet another murder case. A trial court of Islamabad on Thursday handed down capital punishment to Shahnawaz Amir, as well as a penalty of one million rupees. Shahnawaz killed his wife Sarah, a Canadian national, over a domestic altercation in September last year. The case attracted a lot of limelight as the accused is the son of a renowned journalist, and the cold-blooded murder incidentally came months after a similar high-profile prosecution wherein Zahir Jaffer, a dual Pakistan-US national, had beheaded his fiancée, Noor Mukadam. The fact that the legal bureaucracy and judiciary are conscious of ensuring timely retribution in such cases is being seen as a blessed relief in ours otherwise lethargic state of affairs.

Zahir and Shahnawaz represent a frame of mind of people who are carried away at the hands of psychopathic emotions, and bring misery to their subjects and society, alike. Men such as Zahir try to get away scot-free under the pressure of elite capture and powerful connections, and it is nothing but prescription to the rule of law and an ordained judicial character that can bring such culprits to book. It is good that Zahir and Shahnawaz are on the path of meeting their fate, respectively, and this must serve as a precedent to punish anyone from any strata of society who goes over the brink and indulges in criminal acts. This brings us to the submission that appeals to forego such men must be contested tooth and nail, and the appellate courts should stand the ground.

Pakistan’s judiciary and civil society are in need of joining hands, and they must see to it that many such cases that go unreported under societal pressures and taboos must stand a proper trial. As many cases are of honour killing and prejudice, having a nexus with our feudal and lawless society, they must see the light of day and justice. Kudos to all those who rise to the occasion and come forward to testify in such cases!

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2023.

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