Asma Rani murder case: Court awards death sentence to main accused

PESHAWAR: A local court on Friday awarded death sentence to the main accused in the Asma Rani murder case.

The court of the district and sessions judge, Ashfaq Taj, awarded the death sentence to Mujahid Afridi and acquitted two other accused, Siddiqullah and Shah Zeb. The court also directed the accused to pay Rs2 million as compensation to the family of the deceased.

Asma Rani of Kohat, a third-year student of Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad, was shot dead near her home in January 2018 for turning down a marriage proposal by the prime accused. Her video statement in hospital just before the death went viral on social media in which she mentioned the name of the accused Mujahid Afridi who attacked her.

The police after the incident had arrested the two suspects, but the main accused had escaped abroad. The family had complained that some of the local politicians were protecting the accused.

The cops later managed to arrest Mujahid Afridi through the Interpol. The mainstream and social media kept the issue alive and continued keeping constant pressure on the police force for the arrest of the accused. The trial was transferred from Kohat to Peshawar on the directives of the Peshawar High Court in April 2018. Meanwhile, the family of the deceased has welcomed the verdict of the court and said the ends of justice had been met.