LHC acquits woman, co-accused in murder case

Court cites lack of evidence, grants benefit of doubt to accused

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LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) has acquitted a woman and her co-accused, who were convicted of murdering her husband, after the prosecution failed to establish the case against them.

The division bench, headed by Justice Shehram Sarwar, overturned the trial court's verdict and granted the benefit of the doubt to the accused.

The accused, Muhammad Dilawar and Hina, were initially convicted by a Sargodha trial court in connection with the murder of Muhammad Munir.

The case, registered under FIR 676/2019 on November 16, 2019, at Police Station Jhaal Chakian, was lodged under Sections 302, 201, and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

On December 2, 2021, the trial court sentenced both accused to death under Section 302(b) PPC and ordered them to pay Rs1,000,000 each in compensation to the legal heirs of the deceased under Section 544-A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

Additionally, they were sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment under Section 201 PPC and fined Rs. 25,000 each, with a default penalty of six months' simple imprisonment.

The convicts appealed their sentences before the LHC, which found that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

The court, citing precedents from the Supreme Court of Pakistan, ruled that even a single circumstance creating reasonable doubt is sufficient to grant an acquittal.

In this case, the court noted that multiple inconsistencies and doubts in the prosecution's evidence rendered the case unreliable.

As per the FIR, the case was initiated based on a complaint by Muhammad Zaheer, the brother of the deceased.

He claimed that his brother, Muhammad Munir, had married Hina Bibi on July 27, 2019, but suspected her of having an illicit relationship with the co-accused, Dilawar.

Munir had allegedly warned Hina and Dilawar about their relationship, but they ignored his objections.

On November 1, 2019, Munir and Hina attended a wedding ceremony in Fatima Jinnah Colony, but Munir later went missing. A search for him proved futile.