Killers get three life terms a decade after murdering Gulgee, his wife

Two men accused of murdering globally acclaimed artist Gulgee, his wife, Zareen, and a female house servant, Asiya, were convicted and awarded three consecutive life imprisonments by a local court on Tuesday almost a decade after the triple murder.

The court observed that the convicts, Akram Ali and Anwar, would have to face three life imprisonments owing to the serious nature of their crimes. The two were employed as a driver and a cook at the Gulgee residence. 

The bodies of the deceased were discovered by the slain couple’s son, Amin Gulgee, around four days after the murder on December 19, 2007.

According to the prosecution, the accused had planned to rob the house while the couple had gone out for dinner and allegedly killed them when they returned home. The maid was said to have been murdered the following day after she arrived at the house and failed to tell the accused where the rest of the money was kept.

The court after recording their statements had last year fixed the case for hearing final arguments. Some 10 witnesses including Gulgee’s son, also the complainant, were examined.

A case was registered at the Boat Basin police station under Sections 302 (punishment for premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of the slain couple’s son.

Both the accused were arrested on February 16, 2008 from a hotel near the Cantonment railway station. The police had claimed to have seized a suitcase of the deceased artist’s precious paintings and other stolen items from their possession.

Initially arrested, Amin was later released after the police found no proof of his involvement in the murders. He had told the additional district and sessions judge (South), Faheem Ahmed Siddiqui, that he was living in an adjoining portion of his parents' house but had not visited them owing to his busy schedule.

It was only on December 19, 2007 that he realised that the gate of his parents’ house had been locked for the past five days and that their car was not parked inside.

He had deposed that he called his parents but there was no response, it was then that he went up to the house and broke the lock, only to discover their bodies.

Born in Peshawar on October 25, 1926, Ismail Gulgee gained popularity globally owing to his exceptional abstract and portrait painting skills.

He had received the Pride of Performance, Sitar-e-Imtiaz as well as the Hilal-e-Imtiaz awards for his distinguished work in the field of art.