PESHAWAR: A local court on Thursday convicted a man of an acid attack against a woman and her brother and awarded life imprisonment to him.

The convict was also ordered by additional district and sessions judge Syed Arif Shah to pay Rs2 million compensation to the two injured in the attack.

The gender-based violence court declared that the prosecution proved its case against the accused, Farhad, a resident of Afghan Colony, Peshawar, while the evidence on record also connected him with the commission of the offence.

The FIR of the acid attack was registered at the Pahari Pura police station on July 1, 2021.

The victim of the attack, Sidra, who was the complainant in the FIR, claimed that the accused targeted her after she rejected his demand for an extramarital affair.

She said the accused threw acid on her and her brother, Shehzad Nasir, when the latter were travelling in a car.

The woman said the attack caused severe burn injuries to her and her brother.

Sahibzada Inamur Rehman was the lawyer for the complainant, while assistant public prosecutor Danish Murad represented the state in the case.

They contended that the two injured people had testified against the accused leaving no doubt about his involvement in the commission of the offence.

Mr Rehman and Mr Murad argued that the accused had acted in a brutal manner by throwing acid on the faces of the complainant and her brother causing serious burns to them.

They added that the accused did not deserve any leniency.

The court sentenced the convict on two counts. He was convicted under Section 336(B) (punishment for hurt by use of corrosive substance) of the Pakistan Penal Code and handed down life imprisonment to him. The convict was also told to pay Rs1.5 million as compensation to the complainant.

It convicted him for injuring the witness, Shehzad Nasir, and sentenced him to 14 years rigorous imprisonment and ordered him to pay compensation of Rs500,000 to him.

The court declared that both sentences would run concurrently.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2023