Shafqat Hussain's execution formally halted for 30 days

KARACHI: In a formal letter to jail authorities, the interior ministry asserted ‘underage’ convict Shafqat Hussain’s execution has been halted for 30 days.

The implementation of Shafqat Hussain’s execution has been postponed for 30 days, jail authorities apprised ATC III on Tuesday.

Shafqat, who was due to be hanged on the morning of March 19, was given a reprieve just hours before the marked time after a campaign by his lawyers and members of the civil society pointed out the possibility of a mistrial.

The reprieve came after Shafqat’s family presented his birth certificate to media and insisted he was 14 years old when he was sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court for kidnapping and killing a seven-year-old who went missing from the apartments where the convict worked.

Read: Shafqat Hussain's family presents birth certificate to media

As per the birth certificate presented by his family and issued by local government and Rural Development Department Secretary Town Committee of Kail, Shafqat’s date of birth was written as 01 October 1991.

However, jail officials insist that the inmate was 23 years old when he was incarcerated.

Read: Death row prisoner: Jail officials insist Shafqat wasn’t underage

Citing the admissions register of the Karachi Central Jail, which records the age of every incoming inmate, they said Shafqat’s age was 23 when he was brought to the prison in 2004. “We record the age by our findings and by asking the prisoner. According to our register, he was not 14 but 23,” said one official.

Another prison official said there is a ‘huge difference’ between an inmate who is 14 years old and another who is 23 years old. “If he was 14, we would have sent him to the juvenile jail. Why would we keep him in the main jail?”

Earlier, an interior ministry official told The Express Tribune an inquiry committee has been formed which will prepare ground for a subsequent medical board to determine Shafqat’s age.

Read: Govt likely to constitute medical board to determine Shafqat's age