PESHAWAR, April 28: The Peshawar High Court has remanded back to the trial court the case of a woman facing death penalty and has been in prison for more than 12 years.

Previously, her case was remanded back to the trial court by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The woman, Shamim Akhter, was convicted for killing her husband Roshan Deen in connivance with a co-accused, Khanzada.

Both the accused were sentenced to death by the trial court, first in 1992 and then in 1999 when their case was remanded back by the Supreme Court.

The legal battle of Ms Akhter is spread over more than a decade and it appears that she has still a long way to go. Her counsel claimed that she had already paid the price for the offence attributed to her as 12 years in prison was a long period.

A division bench of the high court headed by Justice Tariq Pervaiz took up for hearing her appeal a few days back and observed that the trial court had not followed the directives issued to it by the Supreme Court. Advocate Ali Jamil Qazi, appearing for the woman, argued that the Supreme Court had directed the trial court to consider the chemical examination report before delivering its verdict, but the court ignored the said report.

The bench observed that it would be appropriate to remand back the case to the trial court with the observation to follow the directions of the Supreme Court.

Ms Akhter and Khanzada were both charged with killing Roshan Deen, the woman’s husband, on July 21, 1989, in Bank Colony, Swabi district. Complainant in the case was Nazar Deen, father of the deceased. He claimed that his son was married to the lady 14 years ago and they had five children.

The complainant claimed that both the accused were having illicit relations and had decided to kill Roshan Deen.

Both the accused had also recorded their confessional statements. The woman claimed that on the directives of Khanzada she mixed drugs in tea. Upon drinking the tea, her husband went unconscious. She stated that they poured kerosene oil on him and put him to torch.

Later on, during the trial, both the accused retracted their statements. The woman claimed that she was severely tortured, first by her in-laws and then by the police. Advocate Qazi claimed that the chemical examination report did not corroborate the prosecution’s evidence.

The accused were convicted by district and sessions judge, Swabi, on June 29, 1992.