SC acquits murder convict over contradictions in evidence

ISLAMABAD, Oct 27 (APP):The Supreme Court has acquitted Manwar Hussain in the Saima Bibi murder case, setting aside the trial court and high court judgments awarding and upholding his life imprisonment, respectively, after extending him the benefit of the doubt due to contradictions in the prosecution evidence and post-mortem report.

The court converted the convict’s petition into an appeal and allowed it, directing that he be released if he was not required in any other case.

During the hearing, counsel for the complainant argued that Manwar Hussain had murdered 25-year-old Saima Bibi by slitting her throat with a knife. He said the accused was the victim’s neighbour and had an improper interest in her. According to the counsel, the victim’s husband, brother-in-law and another person had witnessed the incident.

Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan observed that, according to the FIR, the accused was alone at the scene, while three witnesses were allegedly present. He questioned why the victim’s husband, brother-in-law and the third witness had not tried to stop the accused, asking whether they had remained silent spectators while the victim’s throat was being slit.

The complainant’s counsel stated that the victim had been tied to a charpoy by placing a dupatta around her neck before the murder.

Justice Shakeel Ahmad observed that the medical report did not mention any marks caused by the dupatta. He also questioned why the dupatta had not been sent for forensic examination.

Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan further observed that the high court had not considered the evidence regarding the accused’s alleged improper interest in the victim and the recovery of the knife to be reliable.

He noted that the complainant and witnesses had stated that the incident took place at 6:30 a.m., whereas the post-mortem report indicated that the victim had died before that time. The complainant had not challenged the post-mortem report, he added.

After examining the evidence, the Supreme Court allowed the appeal, set aside the judgments of both lower courts and acquitted Manwar Hussain.

Saima Bibi was murdered with a knife in a village in Faisalabad in 2016. The trial court had sentenced Manwar Hussain to life imprisonment, a decision subsequently upheld by the high court.