Verdict Woman: found guilty of murdering husband

A district and sessions court awards her life imprisonment.

KARACHI: A district and sessions court sentenced on Thursday a woman to life imprisonment after convicting her of murdering her husband in cold blood.

Amira was found guilty of killing Nasir Mehmood in collusion with her cousin, Khurram. She had been married for years and had three children with Mehmood.

The case, registered two years ago, took a painstaking investigation to finally reach a conclusion as it was initially reported as a case of dacoity with murder. However, later on, it embarked onto a totally opposite trajectory as facts began to unveil.

On July 20, 2013, the convict had claimed that she was returning home around midnight with her husband after having dinner at a restaurant. According to her, they were passing through a deserted road linking the Airport to Gulistan-e-Jauhar, when some armed men riding motorcycles intercepted them on a speed-breaker. She added that they tried to loot them and, upon resistance, shot at her husband.

Meanwhile, the brother of Mehmood did not believe the version of his sister-in-law and asked the police to investigate the matter. A week later, Amira's story became dubious when the investigators inspected the crime scene and found her footprints a few feet away from the site where Mehmood was killed. They followed the footprints and found a blood-stained 'shawl' and a pistol hidden in nearby bushes.

The collected evidence was sent to the laboratory for forensic examination. The results revealed that the gun carried Amira's fingerprints while the blood matched with that of Mehmood. Subsequently, she was taken into custody and confessed to committing the crime during interrogation.

She had stolen a licensed pistol of her brother, Shahzad, a few days before the murder on the instigation of her cousin, Khurram. He also taught her how to use the weapon. She took her husband out for dinner and while they were on their motorcycle, she pulled the trigger of the loaded pistol pointed towards him.

Malir district and sessions judge Farooq ali Channa, after hearing the case at length, sent her to jail for 25 years. She was also ordered to pay a fine of Rs100,000. In case of non-payment, she will have to undergo six months of additional imprisonment.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30^th, 2015.