Man handed down death sentence in 2020 murder case

A sessions court has sentenced an accused to death in a four-year-old murder case.

Muhammad Israr, alias Kochi, was found guilty of stabbing his cousin Mir Muhammad Khan to death with a pair of scissors in Pehlwan Goth within the limits of the Gulistan-e-Jauhar police station in August 2020.

Additional Sessions Judge (East) Abdul Hafeez Maitlo observed that the prosecution proved its case against the accused beyond any shadow of doubt. He said there was satisfactory ocular evidence in the shape of eyewitnesses, supported by medical as well as circumstantial evidence, against the accused.

The judge handed down death sentence to the convict for committing the murder. However, he added that the capital punishment was subject to confirmation by the Sindh High Court.

The accused was also ordered to pay a compensation of Rs500,000 to the legal heirs of the deceased or undergo an additional six-month imprisonment over failure to pay the same.

According to State Prosecutor Muhammad Safdar Shaikh, the complainant of the case was the murdered man’s brother, Saleem Khan, who had stated that on August 10, 2020, he was present at his shop in Pehlwan Goth when his brother informed him over phone that he and the accused man, Israr, had had a quarrel near the Soneri Apartments.

The complainant said he rushed to the place of the incident and found out that Israr had already left the scene.

The complainant said he returned to his shop while his brother went home, but a couple of hours later, the accused came back and stabbed Mir Mohammad in the chest with a pair of scissors. The injured man was taken to a nearby hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.

The prosecutor contended that the prosecution had succeeded to prove its case through ocular, circumstantial and corroborative medical evidence. He said all private witnesses, including the deceased's brother and a barber, from whose shop the accused had taken the scissors, fully supported the prosecution case, linking the accused with the commission of the offence.

The court was informed that the weapon used in the crime was also recovered with the help of information provided by the accused. The prosecutor pleaded with the judge to punish Israr as per the law.

On the other hand, the defence counsel argued that his client was innocent and had been falsely implicated by the complainant because they both were close relatives and engaged in an old enmity over a property.

He said the alleged incident took place during the Covid-19 lockdown, due to which shops were closed, therefore, the presence of the complainant and other witnesses, including the sweeper and barber, was highly doubtful. He, therefore, requested the judge to acquit his client.

The FIR was lodged under the Section 302 (murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of Saleem.