SHC grants bail to man in woman murder case

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has granted bail to a man in a murder case observing that the case requires further inquiry.

Mohammad Naqab was booked by the Orangi Town police for allegedly murdering a woman, Asma, along with other co-accused. According to the prosecution, complainant Habib-ur-Rehman lodged an FIR submitting that one of his daughters, Asma, married Hafeezullah six years ago. He alleged that his daughter was killed by Hafeezullah and others on April 28, 2024.

Police later arrested Hafeezullah and Inayat and they confessed that they killed Asma on the instruction of Naqab. A counsel for the applicant submitted that he had been falsely implicated in the case on the statement of a co-accused. He submitted that the recovery of the cleaver and hammer used in the crime was made the same day the body was found and the alleged murder weapons were sealed the same day.

He submitted that the same cleaver and hammer were on display in a crime-related television programme aired two weeks after the incident. He sought bail of the applicant as the case merited further inquiry.

A single bench of the SHC headed by Justice Omar Sial after hearing the arguments of the counsel observed that the evidence against the applicant was confined to the statements made by the co-accused.

The high court observed that whether or not such statements would be admissible in evidence would have to be determined by the trial court, but at this preliminary stage, there was a strong argument that they may not.

The bench observed that the woman was allegedly killed by her husband who suspected her having an extra-matrimonial affair and the investigation officer of the case did not provide an explanation as to who Naqab was in the whole equation and why he would order the co-accused to kill the woman because she was allegedly not faithful to her husband.

The SHC observed that the investigation officer failed to provide any cogent connection between the victim, her husband and the applicant. The high court observed that at one juncture, the investigation officer submitted that the cleaver and the hammer had been provided to the accused who killed Asma by the applicant, however, he later withdrew from that submission.

The SHC observed that whether or not the submission of the defence was correct would have to be analysed during the trial however the photos annexed with the application, prima facie, reflected that the submission may be correct. The high court observed that the case against the applicant was one of further inquiry and granted him bail against a surety of Rs500,000.