Asma Rani murder: PHC moved for transfer of case from Kohat to Peshawar

PESHAWAR: The brother of Asma Rani, a medical student from Kohat who was allegedly shot dead by a nephew of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s local leader for rejecting his marriage proposal, on Monday moved the Peshawar High Court (PHC) to seek the transfer of the case from Kohat to Peshawar.

Asma Rani’s brother Muhammad Irfan, whose family hails from Lakki Marwat and is presently living in Kohat, filed the application for transfer of the case from Kohat to Peshawar through his lawyers Ghulam Mohiyuddin Malik and Muhammad Farook Malik.

The provincial government and the arrested accused Shah Zeb, who is facilitator in the case as per the police report, were made parties in the petition.Asma Rani, a third year student of a medical college in Abbottabad, was allegedly killed by Mujahidullah Afridi on January 28. In her dying statement that was video-recorded by her family, she had named Mujahidullah Afridi as the killer.

Mujahidullah Afridi escaped abroad on the day of the incident by taking a flight out of Islamabad. The KP government claimed that efforts were underway to arrest the culprit through the Interpol.It was stated in the application by Muhammad Irfan that the accused/respondents were permanent residents of Kohat and belonged to an influential political family.

It said the close relatives of the accused included the District President of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the local MNA, and some practicing lawyers in Kohat. “The complainant party/petitioner used all resources to engage a local lawyer for pleading the murder case of Asma Rani in Kohat, but no one accepted the brief of the case,” it was stated in the application by Muhammad Irfan.

The petitioner claimed that on each hearing their opponents accompanied by supporters were hostile towards them. He said that he and his relatives felt threatened due to their hostility. “The atmosphere is unsafe and uncongenial in Kohat for me and my lawyer from Peshawar,” he claimed.

It was prayed before the court that the bail application along with the main murder case for trial be transferred from Kohat to Peshawar.The Supreme Court of Pakistan had taken suo moto notice of Asma Rani’s murder and sought report from the KP Police about the arrest of the accused.