KARACHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday acquitted three convicts, including a woman, in a case pertaining to the murder of her parents, after 20 years.
In 1998, Asma Nawab was alleged to have planned murder of her parents over love marriage.
Asma and two other suspects, Muhammad Farhan Khan and Javed Ahmed Siddiqui, had appealed against their death sentences in the top court.
The top court bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, at Supreme Court Karachi Registry, accepted their petitions, nullified their sentences and ordered the immediate release of the suspects.
In its verdict, the court observed that there was no concrete evidence against the suspects, and faulty pieces of evidence were submitted to the court.
Farhan’s fingerprints were taken two days after the murder, the court observed, adding that prosecution failed to prove the allegations.
Justice Khosa further remarked that police have failed to present evidence against the suspects before the court. The suspects are released for lack of evidence but it is said that court acquits the suspect, he said.
There was no concrete evidence against co-accused Farhan as well, Justice Khosa ruled, adding that suspects have been facing jail time since last 20 years without any evidence.
The prosecution had told the court that Asma and her three accomplices, Wasim, Farhan, and Javed, killed her three family members in 1998.
In 1999, the sessions court ordered the double death sentences for three suspects and 10 years imprisonment for Wasim.
Sindh High Court (SHC) had rejected their appeal against the death sentences in 2015. The appeal was eventually taken up by the Supreme Court.
Asma was the only woman facing the death sentence in Sindh province.
