LAHORE - The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday allowed appeal of a man convicted of stabbing a girl law student three years ago and acquitted him.
Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem decided the appeal moved by convict Shah Hussain, son of Advocate Tanvir Hashmi.
A judicial magistrate in July last year awarded Shah Hussain jail under different sections of the Pakistan Penal Code. He was sentenced to seven-year imprisonment under Section 324, five-year under section 337F(iv), two-year under section 337A(i), five-year under section 337A(ii) one-year under section 337F(i) and three-year under section 337F(ii).
A sessions court in March last year commuted his sentence from seven years to five years and set aside other minor penalties.
Advocate Hassan Rizvi, the counsel for Khadija Siddiqui, said they would challenge the decision of the high court in the Supreme Court.
On May 3, 2016, Khadija went to Davis Road to pick up her sister from a school. When the two were about to get into the car, the convict attacked her. The victim said her younger sister was also injured. As the attacker tried to flee, she grabbed him and his helmet fell off after which she recognized him.
Civil Lines police had registered a case against Shah Hussain on charges of attempted murder.
She said the accused also used to harass her before the incident took place. Khadija’s sister also recorded her statement and recognised Shah Hussain as the assailant in the courtroom.
In its decision, the trial court had held that the convict had stabbed the victim mercilessly as severe injuries on her vital body parts clearly proved that the convict stabbed her without any limit to commit her to death. Nothing was in the favour of the convict after cross-examination of eyewitnesses, the ruling said.
“The prosecution has established the case without any shadow of even a minor doubt,” the judge had observed in the judgement.
Khadija Siddiqui and Shah Hussain were class fellows at a local law college.