Witness appears after three years to testify in murder case

Prosecuting counsel says his clients only know tribal law, not ‘English’ law.

KARACHI: A prosecution witness appeared before Additional and Sessions Judge-III on Wednesday to record his statement in a murder case after almost three years. The suspects have been in prison for this period.

According to the First Information Report, on July 25, 2009 Noorullah and his son Najeebullah were at their shop near Al Asif Square when someone called Noorullah to meet at a naddi near Machar Colony. When the father and son reached there in the evening, two men reportedly shot the man and his accomplice shot dead Noorullah while Najeebullah managed to escape.

The counsel for the accused, Fida Muhammad Khan, said that there was no post-mortem examination or forensic report and the police didn’t find bullet shells or blood stains from the crime scene.

Khan said that an FIR was lodged against Ameen and Muhammad Nasir after a week. The police had arrested them in another case and called Najeebullah for identification.

Defence lawyer Khan said that Najeebullah had not disclosed what his father’s killers looked like but identified them in the police station when asked to recognise the men.

The prosecution witness told the court that he was at home when Najeebullah arrived to tell him that some unidentified men had killed his father. “We reached there and brought the body home,” he said. The witness also accompanied Najeebullah to the police station but did not go inside at the time of identification.

“The city is a troubled place to live in, may be that is the reason why the witness distanced himself from the case during his statement,” said the counsel for the complainant, Nisar Ahmed Magsi.

When asked about the delay in the FIR, Magsi said that, “They are tribal people and know nothing about law and legal formalities.” Another reason for the delay was stated in the FIR - Najeebullah had lost consciousness. “They don’t know the ‘English law’ that is being followed here, they still behave similarly to how they deal in a jirga,” Magsi said.

“The police couldn’t find anything from the spot where Benazir was assassinated, her post-mortem was not performed but still people were under trial. Is there any difference between the law for the poor and rich?” argued Magsi while responding to the queries of the counsel for the accused over post-mortem and forensic reports.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 12^th, 2012.