Fakhra Yunus case: SHC reissues notice to Bilal Khar

Bilal, son of PPP leader Ghulam Mustafa Khar, was acquitted earlier because eyewitnesses refused to identify him.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court reissued notice to Bilal Mustafa Khar, prime suspect in the Fakhra Yunus acid attack case on Tuesday.

Bilal, son of PPP stalwart Ghulam Mustafa Khar, has been directed to file comments before December 6.

Seven months after the victim had committed suicide in Italy, where she had undergone multiple face reconstruction surgeries, three non-government organisations (NGOs) have challenged acquittal of the suspect in the high court.

The NGOs have also sought effective implementation of the newly enacted criminal laws regarding investigation of crimes against women, especially acid attacks.

Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research, Shirkat Gah and Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum filed a petition through Advocate Faisal Siddiqui.

They have named the Sindh Home Secretary, Law Secretary and Bilal as respondents.

Siddiqui said there were four eyewitnesses to Bilal’s crime, including the victim’s own son.

But the suspect was acquitted by the Sessions Judge, South, Karachi because the four eyewitnesses refused to identify him in the court of law, allegedly due to his influence, the NGOs’ advocate added.

Siddiqui contended that the trial court had also failed to consider the evidence available on record, as the same was sufficient to convict the accused.

The lawyer pointed out that the government had enacted the Criminal Law (Second Amendment) Act 2011, through which necessary amendments were made to the law to control crimes against women. Hence Yunus’s case should be re-investigated under the guidelines of the new law.

The lawyer prayed to the court to get the entire record of the Yunus’s case from the trial court, examine it and then remand back to the concerned court for retrial.

The case

In 1998, Yunus was an 18 year old resident of Napier Road’s Bulbul Bazar, Karachi’s red light district, when she met the then Muzaffargarh MPA Bilal Khar.

They both got married after a six month relationship. This was Bilal’s third marriage, while Yunus had a three year old son from an earlier liaison.

Little did Yunus know, that this was not meant to be her fairytale marriage, since shortly after the marriage, she faced both physical and mental abuse by Khar, which lasted for three years before she eventually escaped and moved in with her mother.

An infuriated Khar allegedly took ‘revenge’ by pouring acid over her on May 14, 2000, as her five year old son watched. The attack left her severely burned, particularly her face. She, however, survived the attack but not before spending three months in intensive care.

Khar used his political influence to evade arrest and absconded, while Yunus’s family faced difficulty in registering an FIR against him.

On October 31, 2002, Khar was eventually arrested, but released in 2003 on Rs 200,000 bail.

In Yunus’ time of despair, social activist Tehmina Durrani came to the forefront to assist her. Durrani, ironically, was once married to Ghulam Mustafa Khar.

After the then government showed reluctance in helping Yunus, Durrani convinced the Italian government to help her, by not only providing asylum but also sponsoring her treatment there. Khar, leveraging his influence, had vehemently tried to stop her exit from Pakistan, but failed.

After over a decade of undergoing treatment in Italy, an emotionally scarred Fakhra, lost hope and committed suicide by jumping out of her sixth floor residence.

Khar currently resides in his ancestral home in Kot Addu.