PESHAWAR: A local court has acquitted four brothers charged with killing a woman four years ago over a blood feud.

The additional district and sessions judge Mohammad Sher Ali Khan ruled that the prosecution case was full of doubts, therefore the accused persons named Ahmad Khan, Haji Akbar, Laiq Akbar and Meraj Akbar were acquitted from the charges levelled against them.

The court accepted an application filed by the accused persons under section 265-K of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which empowers the trial court to acquit an accused before conclusion of a trial if there is no possibility of his conviction on basis of available evidence.

The FIR of the occurrence was registered at Chamkani police station on Jan 17, 2019, under different provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The complainant on the FIR was mother-in-law of the deceased woman Amreena.

She had informed the police that at night time someone had knocked at their door and on inquiry, she was told that they were police officials. She alleged that when she opened the door the said four accused persons along with two other unknown persons duly armed with weapons entered their residence.

She claimed that the attackers awoke her daughter-in-law (deceased woman), brought her out of her room and started firing at her which resulted in her death.

While three of the accused were arrested the fourth one Meraj had been absconding.

Advocate Syed Naeem Bukahri appeared for the defense and argued that the prosecution case was full of discrepancies.

He argued that the empty cartridges and bullets recovered from the crime scene suggested a single weapon was used, whereas the complainant had claimed that the all the accused persons had engaged in firing.

Additionally, he said the absence of any injury to the complainant, who was present during the attack, further muddled the prosecution’s narrative.

He highlighted the implausibility of the alleged scenario, wherein the victim was taken outside before being killed.

The court also observed that the report of the forensic science laboratory (FSL) transpired that five empties and two bullets recovered from the spot were fired from same weapon of 7.62 bore.

It is added that while the complainant had charged all the accused for firing at the deceased, the recovery of five empties and two bullets of same bore weapon made the entire situation confusing and doubtful, which contradicted the complainant’s version.

The court further observed that in their society, it was highly scorned and considered an abominable act to wreak one’s vengeance on females for the wrong of their male family members.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2024