Woman who refused easy exit from jail is acquitted

Sufyan Bibi refused to make admission of guilt.

LAHORE:

A woman accused of murder who refused to compromise and apologise to the victim’s family was vindicated on Friday as she was acquitted of all charges and released.

Sufyan Bibi could have left prison in March along with two co-accused if she had apologised to the family of the victim, but she had refused, saying it would be an admission of guilt. Kaneez Bibi and Muhammad Imran were released on March 31 after they apologised to the family of the victim. It was not clear what settlement, if any, the latter two had reached with the family.

The three defendants plus a fourth man named Nadeem, who are all related to each other, were accused of murder and conspiracy to murder Muhammad Asif, a painter, on July 14, 2008.

According to the complainant in the case, Rahmat Ali, Nadeem and Imran beat his son to death over payment for a job.

Questioned by Additional District and Sessions Judge Sana Khan Attique at a previous hearing as to why she was refusing to apologise to gain her release, Sufyan Bibi said that she would not apologise because she was innocent of all charges and she believed that God would help her.

She said that the complainant was trying to extort money from her and her family and had also tried to get her husband charged in the same case. She said that he had asked her to pay Rs500,000 and give him a plot of land not to her in his complaint, but she refused, and he then lodged a complaint against her. She said she would die before she would apologise.

Court staffers told The Express Tribune that they had heard Sufyan Bibi’s relatives urge her to apologise so she could get out of jail, but she had steadfastly refused.

On Friday, the judge acquitted Sufyan Bibi, ruling that there was not enough evidence to establish her guilt.

The fourth accused, Nadeem, is at large and was declared a proclaimed offender on September 8, 2010.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 29^th, 2011.