Acid attack: Man gets death on two counts

Convict claimed deceased had committed suicide.

FAISALABAD:

A man was sentenced to death on two counts on Monday for throwing acid on a woman and her daughter.  

Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Ishtiaq Ahmad also sentenced Muhammad Ijaz to 28 years in prisons and imposed Rs2 million fine on him.

Ijaz was arrested by Samanabad police on June 3 for burning a woman, Uzma Bibi, and her daughter in an acid attack on May 31.

Uzma Bibi, 35, remained under treatment at a burn unit at Allied Hospital for six days and died of her injuries on July 6. Her daughter recovered and has been discharged from the hospital.

Talking to the police at the hospital, the woman had said that Ijaz threw acid on her, her daughter and a neighbour, identified as Sadia Bibi, near her home in Islam Nagar. She had said they were headed towards a beauty parlour near her home when the incident took place. “He stopped us on Risala Road and threw acid at us on my refusal to marry him,” she had said.

Ijaz had denied the charge in the court. He said the woman had herself poured acid on her. “She wanted to marry me and committed suicide when I turned down her proposal,” he said. He said some of the acid had fallen on him and the daughter of the deceased when he tried to stop her from doing so.

On Monday, the court rejected Ijaz’s defence and sentenced him death under Sections 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

The court also ordered Ijaz to pay Rs100,000 to the heirs of the deceased. The prison-term will be extended by six months if he fails to pay. The 28-year term, under Section 336-B of the PPC, will increase by two more years if he fails to pay Rs2 million in fines.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 17^th, 2012.