SC upholds woman's right to khula

Upholds death sentence of man who killed former wife 48 hours after khula decree

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court has declared violence against a woman for exercising her right to khula an "attack on the Constitution", observing that the law would deal with those who subject women seeking dissolution of marriage to violence with full force.

The remarks came in a detailed four-page judgment authored by Justice MuhammadHashim Khan Kakar, through which the apex court dismissed the jail petition of convict Waseem Abbas and upheld his death sentence for murdering his former wife, Shehnaz Bibi.

The Supreme Court held that a woman's right to seek khula was a constitutional right.

The court observed that Articles 9, 14 and 25 of the Constitution fully guaranteed women protection and equal rights. It said killing a woman for seeking a lawful right amounted to open defiance of the law and an act of brutality, adding that a convict involved in such a cold-blooded and premeditated murder did not deserve any concession.

According to the judgment, Shehnaz Bibi had obtained a legal decree of khula from the Family Court. Just 48 hours after the decree was granted, Waseem Abbas allegedly entered her home armed with a weapon and opened fire on her over the matrimonial dispute.

The court noted that the accused fired six bullets, hitting the woman in the abdomen, hand and back, resulting in her death. The incident took place on October 11, 2020.

The apex court also addressed the evidentiary aspects of crimes committed within domestic settings. It held that the testimony of relatives could not be discarded merely because of their relationship with the victim, particularly in cases involving offences committed within the privacy of a home.

The court observed that the forensic match between the spent bullet casings recovered from the crime scene and the pistol constituted incontrovertible evidence linking the weapon to the offence.

The trial court had sentenced Waseem Abbas to death and awarded him 10 years' imprisonment, while the Lahore High Court had subsequently upheld the conviction and sentence.

The Supreme Court found no defect or legal infirmity in the concurrent findings of the lower courts and dismissed the convict's jail petition. The death sentence will therefore remain in force.