SHC commutes death sentence of murderer of wife, two children into life term

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday dismissed the appeal of a convict in a triple murder case but commuted his death sentence into life imprisonment.

Mohammad Shadeed was sentenced to death by a West additional district and sessions court for murdering his wife and two children in Orangi Town on April 21, 2019. According to the prosecution, the appellant had quarrelled with his wife Aneela over grocery and having lost his temper, he killed his wife and two children by cutting their throats with a kitchen knife.

A counsel for the appellant submitted that the incident was unseen and there was no previous ill-will or enmity that was established by the prosecution. He submitted that no one from the neighbours had heard any quarrel and the appellant was not present at the time of the commission of offence while all the prosecution witnesses were relatives of the deceased which could not be relied upon.

He said the recovery of the weapon was doubtful and requested the high court to acquit the appellant from the charges. An additional prosecutor general submitted that no other person apart from the appellant was present in the house and the prosecution had proved its case against the appellant beyond any shadow of doubt.

A division bench of the high court comprising Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha and Justice Khadim Hussain Tunio after hearing the arguments observed that all the prosecution witnesses had deposed regarding temperament of the appellant and his constant familial disputes with his wife.

The SHC observed that the prosecution had curated an unbroken chain of circumstances and essentially proved the culpability of the appellant for the murder of his wife and two children. The high court observed that the crime was prima facie barbaric in nature but the safe administration of justice demanded that same could not tilt the scales of justice against the appellant.

The bench observed that it was also established that the appellant often lost control of himself due to his short temper and it could easily be argued that when a person was put in such a state, one lost control of their consciousness and did things that they would often not have done had they not been in that state of provocation.

The SHC observed that the prosecution has proved its case against the appellant and his conviction was maintained. The high court, however, converted the death sentence of the appellant into life imprisonment.