SHC sets aside death sentence in kidnapping and murder case

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has set aside the death sentence of a man in a kidnapping and murder case, as the prosecution failed to prove charges.

Rizwanllah Khan was sentenced to death by an anti-terrorism court for kidnapping and murdering a seven-year-old boy after molestation in Korangi Industrial Area around three years ago.

According to the prosecution, the complainant had alleged that the appellant was involved in kidnapping and murdering his son in July 2020.

The appellant’s counsel submitted that the appellant was falsely implicated in the case on account of enmity as no evidence was found against him. He submitted that the FIR was registered after a delay of two days and the alleged extrajudicial confession of the appellant was not admissible in the eyes of the law.

The additional prosecutor general supported the trial court order and submitted that the appellant had led the police to recover the body of the deceased and requested the court to dismiss the appeal.

An SHC division bench comprising Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha and Justice Khadim Hussain Tunio, after hearing the arguments of the counsel and perusal of evidence, observed that there was no eyewitness to the abduction of the deceased that connected the allegation of prosecution to the appellant.

The court observed that the alleged confession of the appellant before police could not be relied upon as confessions before the police are inadmissible evidence. It said that DNA report found that body was of the deceased, but it stated that DNA match was not 100 percent certain.

The court further observed that no cause of death had been established by any medical examiner or medical or other report and whether the remains were actually of the deceased was not categorically proven, whilst his cause, date and time of death remain unknown. It said the molestation allegation were not established by the prosecution against the appellant; besides, the prosecution failed to prove any motive of the abduction and murder of the deceased.

The high court said that the prosecution failed to prove charges against the appellant who is entitled to the benefit of the doubt as a matter of right, not as concession. It set aside the death sentence and ordered releasing the appellant if not required in other cases.