Acid attack: Death on two counts for killing neighbour

‘I meant to punish her for supporting my wife in eloping with her paramour and seeking a divorce’.


Owais Jafri April 22, 2012

MULTAN:


A man in Multan was sentenced on Saturday to death on two counts for the murder of a neighbour in an acid attack in November 2011.


Sajjad, a resident of Chak 165 WB in Mitro, had admitted during his trial to attacking his neighbour Safia Bibi with acid on November 10, 2011. He had accused the deceased of supporting his wife in eloping with her paramour and later moving a court to seek divorce from him. He had said that the acid attack was meant to be a punishment for the deceased. “She (Safia Bibi) helped my wife in an illicit relationship. I once caught her (Rukhsana Bibi) talking to a man on Safia’s cell phone,” Sajjad had told the court.

Sajjad had remained at large for two months after the attack. He was finally arrested by a Vehari police team from Liaqatabad in Rahim Yar Khan.

The FIR registered by Imtiaz Ahmed, a brother-in-law of the deceased, stated that Sajjad had thrown acid on Safia Bibi while she was working in her kitchen.

She had been taken to Vehari district headquarters (DHQ) hospital from where doctors referred her to Nishter Hospital. She remained at a burn unit at Nishter Hospital for over three weeks and died in early December.

The FIR further said Sajjad had obtained the acid from Khaliq, accused of abetting and inciting the suspect in the crime. Khaliq was, however, acquitted on Saturday on account of insufficient evidence against him.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Khaliq said while the suspect had taken an acid bottle from his shop, he was ignorant about the convict’s intentions.

He said Sajjad was living alone in those days as his wife, Rukhsana Bibi, had run away with an unknown man.

Anti-Terrorism Court’s Justice Arshad Mehmod Cheema also imposed a Rs1 million fine on the convict. Failure to pay the fine will result in additional imprisonment for a year.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23rd, 2012.

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