Man’s death sentence overturned, acquitted in ‘marriage refusal’ murder

WEB DESK: In a significant ruling, a two-member bench of the Lahore High Court has acquitted and released a convict, Muhammad Hussain, overturning his death sentence for a 2021 murder in Sargodha that was allegedly committed after the victim refused to marry him.

The bench, comprising Justice Shehram Sarwar and Justice Sardar Ali Akbar Dogar, issued an eight-page written judgment on Saturday, accepting Hussain’s appeal against the capital punishment awarded by a trial court in 2022.

The prosecution had alleged that Hussain shot the young woman three times at a hospital gate because she had rejected his marriage proposal. However, the High Court found the prosecution’s case riddled with fatal inconsistencies and a failure to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Key flaws highlighted in the judgment include a seven-hour unexplained delay in the victim’s post-mortem examination. The court also questioned the credibility of the evidence, noting it was “incomprehensible” that four family members would go to a hospital just for a minor check-up, as stated by the victim’s mother.

Crucially, the court found major contradictions in the recovery of the murder weapon. While a witness stated the accused was apprehended at the scene by a guard, police claimed he had hidden the pistol elsewhere, which was later recovered. The judgment pointedly asked, “If the accused was arrested at the spot, how did he hide the pistol?”

Furthermore, the prosecution failed to produce mobile call data records (CDR) that could have substantiated the alleged relationship between the accused and the victim, as the names were missing from the provided records.

Citing the fundamental legal principle that the benefit of the doubt must go to the accused, the court declared, “Even a minor doubt is sufficient for the acquittal of an accused.” It concluded that the prosecution had completely failed to prove its case, leading to the acquittal of Muhammad Hussain and the annulment of his death sentence and fine.