Judge's son gets bail after families of women run over by accused pardon him

Court was informed that a settlement was reached with the accused who hit victims' scooter while driving at high speed

The families of two young women who lost their lives in a traffic accident involving a car, driven by under-age son of an Islamabad High Court judge, have formally pardoned the accused, paving the way for his release on bail.

During proceedings at the District and Sessions Court Islamabad, the families informed the court that they had reached a settlement with the accused, Abu Zar, son of Justice Asif. Their statements were recorded before Judicial Magistrate Shaista Kundi.

The brother of one victim appeared in person to deliver his testimony, while the girl’s mother submitted her statement online. The father of the second victim also recorded his statement before the magistrate. Following their declarations, the court approved bail for Abu Zar and ordered his release.

Read: Reckless teen driver runs over two women in Islamabad while Snapchatting

The case relates to an incident earlier this week at PTV Chowk, where a speeding white SUV allegedly driven by a 16-year-old boy hit two women riding a scooter. One of the ladies died on the spot, while the other succumbed to her injuries at the hospital.

Police arrested the suspect soon after the crash, registered a case at the Secretariat police station and produced him before the court. the accused was initially granted a four-day physical remand.

According to the remand report, the teen was recording a Snapchat video when he hit the scooter while driving his car at a dangerously high speed, causing the victims — identified as 25-year-old Samreen and 27-year-old Tabinda — to fall and suffer fatal injuries. Both women worked part-time with an events management group at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts. Their scooter was mangled in the collision.

The suspect, whose address is listed as Spinny Road, Quetta, Balochistan, had been handed over to police custody earlier this week on the court orders. The settlement between the parties has now led to his release on bail.