SHC dismisses appeal of convict in wife murder case

The Sindh High Court has dismissed the appeal of a convict who was awarded life imprisonment for murdering his wife but commuted his sentence from life term to 14-year rigorous imprisonment.

Appellant Anwar was sentenced to life imprisonment by an additional district and sessions court Thatta for murdering his wife Bhagi in October 2018.

According to the prosecution, Anwar caused the death of his wife Bhagi by hitting her with a hatchet when she refused to provide water on his demand.

In a recent hearing, a counsel for the appellant submitted that his client was falsely implicated in the case by the complainant as there was no eyewitness of the incident and evidence of the complainant could not be relied upon. He requested the court to acquit him giving him the benefit of the doubt.

A deputy prosecutor general and the complainant’s counsel submitted that the prosecution proved its case against the appellant beyond any reasonable doubt. They submitted that the murder weapon was recovered on the basis of the information provided by the accused who had hidden the same in bushes.

A single bench of the high court comprising Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha after hearing the arguments and perusal of the evidence observed that the appellant was named in the FIR that alleged that he hit his wife with a hatchet when she refused to give him water because she was breastfeeding her baby.

The high court observed the evidence of the complainant side were confidence-inspiring and eyewitnesses’ statements could be relied upon who gave statement against the appellant with his specific role.

The bench observed that the murder was committed in the house of the appellant where his wife and baby were living. The court observed that the prosecution had proved its case against the appellant beyond any reasonable doubt but commuted his life imprisonment conviction under the Section 302(b) into 302(c) modifying it into 14 years of imprisonment with the benefit of the Section 382 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.