Court dismisses woman’s acquittal plea in husband’s murder case

A model court has dismissed the application of a woman seeking acquittal in the case of her husband’s murder. Noureen and two others, Hassan and Imran, have been charged with the murder of her husband Rizwan Suriya who was found dead at his house in Sharafabad in July 2022.

Additional Sessions Judge Aziz Ur Rehman of the Model Criminal Trial Court (East) dismissed the application filed under the Section 265-K of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) seeking her acquittal in the murder case.

The judge observed that though the woman was not nominated in the FIR but she was assigned a specific role in the commission of the offence during the investigation. She was arrested for playing the role of an abettor in the murder, he said.

He noted that the defence counsel took the stance that the complainant as well as the prosecution witnesses had given their no objection to her acquittal. However, he mentioned that two of the witnesses, Abdul Rehman Suriya and Rameeshah, were children of the accused and the deceased.

"It is also necessary to mention that mere no objection of complainant into heinous offence may not be considered sufficient for the purpose of allowing the

above application as the offence with which the applicant/accused is charged is punishable with capital punishment and even the provision of Section 265-K CrPC does not support for any such consideration on the basis of no objection," the judge went on.

He ruled that the accused could not be acquitted merely on the basis of no objection of the complainant and the prosecution witnesses at this stage.

An FIR has been lodged at the New Town police station under the Section 302 (premeditated murder), 109 (punishment for abetment) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).