4 get death on seven counts for killing 7 family members

NOWSHERA: A local court on Tuesday handed out death sentence to four convicts on seven counts and seven years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs3.5 million in the murder case of seven members of a family, including two women, in Nowshera district.

Hearing the case for 18 months, the Model Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge, Nowshera, Fayyaz Ahmad, awarded the death sentence to four convicts named Firdous Ali, Mumraiz Ali, Salim Khan and Muhammad Arif on seven counts for murdering Misal Khan, his three sons Bakhtiar, Zahid and Tahir, his daughter-in-law Umat Bibi, granddaughter Sajeela and another close relative Zabita Khan.

The court also awarded seven years term to each convict and imposed a fine of Rs3.5 million for injuring two persons in the same incident.The court in its verdict also said that property of the convicts would be auctioned and the money of fine received from its sale must be paid to the victim’s family.

A total of 12 accused had been nominated in the case in which four were arrested while eight accused are still at large in the case.The accused and convicts reportedly attacked the house of their close relative Misal Khan and shot dead him and his other relatives, including two women, at Shaikhe Speen Karae village in Nowshera district on April 18, 2021.

The incident had taken place over the issue of recruitment of a Class-IV at a government-run tubewell set up on land of the family.Theslain Misal Khan had served at the said tubewell and after his retirement one of his sons was appointed in his place over which his (Misal) brothers and nephews were annoyed.

After the occurrence, wife of Misal Khan had told reporters that her brothers-in-law along with their sons attacked their residence and had started indiscriminate firing which left several members of her family dead.She had said her husband was a watchman at the tubewell and after his retirement one of her sons was appointed against the said post a day earlier.