1994 P Cr (PLP)

JUSTICE RAJA AFRASIAB KHAN (MEMBER)

The appellant, Zulfiqar Ali (23) son of Jamal Din was convicted by Mr. Justice (Retd.) Gulbaz Khan, learned Judge, Special Court for Speedy Trials, No.II, Lahore and sentenced to death on two counts for the murder of Mst. Naseeban (16/17) and her mother Mst. Majeedan Bibi (50) under section 302, P.P.C. on 31-1-1993. The convict has appealed against his conviction and sentence.

2. The facts, in brief, as disclosed in the F.I.R. are that Chiragh Din (complainant) is a resident of Chak No.10/M.B. District Khushab. He came to Chak No.208/R.B. Faisalabad 4/5 months prior to occurrence and started living there alongwith his family in a rented house. He was earning his livelihood by doing manual labour. The convict is his real sister's son and has also been living in a rented house in the same Mohallah. Zulfiqar wanted to marry Mst. Naseeban and as such he had been putting pressure upon her parents to accept his proposal of marriage with the girl. The complainant however, did not agree with the proposal. On 29-4-1992 at 9-00 a.m. Zulfiqar came to his house and repeated the request, whereupon Mst. Majeedan wife of the complainant hurled abuses and also refused to marry her daughter with him. Zulfiqar left the house by declaring that, in case, Mst. Naseeban was not married with him, he would not allow her to be married with some one else. Mst. Naseeban had been learning the art of embroidery from someone in the village. After some time, Mst. Majeedan left her house with her daughter for the aforesaid purpose. When they reached near the house of Sharif Arain, Zulfiqar armed with a knife emerged there and attacked and gave injuries to Mst. Naseeban with his weapon. The blows hit her neck and left shoulder. She fell down. Mst. Majeedan came forward to rescue her daughter-She was also given knife blows. She too fell down. Zulfiqar accused gave more blows to his fallen victims. Chiragh Din (complainant) and his son Imdad Ali witnessed the occurrence. Zulfiqar ran away with his knife. The victims died there and then on account of their injuries. The motive is that Zulfiqar was refused to be given the hands of Mst. Naseeban by the complainant party.

3. Muhammad Amin, Inspector P.W.11 recorded F.I.R. Exh.P.C. on the statement of Chiragh Din. He visited the spot, prepared the injury statement Exh.P.J. and inquest report Exh.P.K. of Mst. Naseeban. Similarly injury statement Exh.P.L. and inquest report Exh.P.M. of Mst. Majeedan were prepared by him. The dead bodies were sent to mortuary to subject them to post-mortem examination through Ghulam Fareed and Mubarik Ali F.Cs. Blood-stained earth was taken into possession by the Police Officer vide memo. Exhs.P.D. and P.E. The Inspector took into possession blood-stained clothes of Mst. Naseeban (Exhs.P.2. to P.5) and those of Mst. Majeedan (Exhs.P.6 to P.8) vide memo. Exhs.P.H. and P.I. respectively. Aurangzeb (P.W.6) prepared site plan Exh.P.J. and its duplicate P.G./1 on the instructions of the Investigator. Muhammad Idrees, Inspector, P.W.12 completed the remaining investigation. He arrested the accused on 23-5-1992. While in police custody, Zulfiqar led to the recovery of blood-stained knife P.1 from his house which was taken into possession vide memo. Exh.P.F. He recorded the statements of the prosecution witnesses under section 161, Cr.P.C.

4. Reports of the Chemical Examiner, Exh:P.O. Exh.P.P., Exh.P.Q. and those of the Serologist vide Exhs.P.R., P.S. and P.T. on the blood-stained earth and knife were positive inasmuch as it was opined by the experts that the articles were stained with human blood.

5. Dr. Masud Iqbal Bukhari P.W.1 conducted the post-mortem examination on the dead body of Mst. Naseeban at 8-15 a.m. on 30-4-1992. He found the.following injuries on it:-- (1) A stab wound 3 c.m. x 1 c.m. on front upper of right chest below clavical 5 c.m. on right from mid line. (2) An incised wound 2 c.m. x 1 cm. on upper end of right arm outer side 5 c.m. below right shoulder. (3) A stab wound 2 c.m. x 1 c.m. on outer side upper of right chest 6.5 c.m. below inner corner of armpit. (4) An incised wound 1.5 c.m. x 1 c.m. x fat deep on left breast 3 c.m. on left to mid line. (5) A stab wound 2 c.m. x 1 c.m. on back of right shoulder region 4 c.m. below. (6) An incised wound 1.5 c.m. x 1/2 c.m. into muscle deep on right scapular region 9 c.m. below right shoulder region. (7) An incised wound 2 c.m. x 1 c.m. x bone deep on outer side left knee joint about 4 c.m. below the knee joint. (8) An incised wound .2 c.m. x 1 c.m. x bone deep on outer side left popliteal fosse. (9) An incised wound 3 c.m. x 1-1/2 c.m. x muscle deep on back lower of neck on midline. (10) An incised wound 4 c.m. x 1 c.m. on upper and inner of left arm. (11) A stab wound 2 c.m. x 1 c.m. on outer back of right chest. In the opinion of the doctor, the cause of death was haemorrhage and shock as a result of injuries Nos.1 to 11 collectively. Injuries Nos.1, 3, 5 and 11 were sufficient to cause dearth individually. All the injuries were caused by a sharp edged weapon and were ante-mortem. The same doctor at 9-15 a.m. on 30-4-1992 conducted the post-mortem examination on the dead body of Mst. Majeedan Bibi and found the following injuries on it:-- (1) A stab wound 2.75 c.m. x 1/2 c.m. on back of lower and right chest. 10 c.m. on right to midline. (2) A stab wound 3 c.m. x 1/2 c.m. x muscle deep on back left chest below lower margin of left scapula, 3 c.m. on left from midline. (4) A stab wound 2.5. c.m. x 1/2 c.m. x muscle deep on back left lumber region 11.5 c.m. on left from midline. (5) A stab wound 4 c.m. x 1 c.m. on left side lower end of neck 9 c.m. inner to left shoulder horizontally. (6) An incised wound 4 c.m. x 1 c.m. into muscle deep on front upper of left arm 8 c.m. below left shoulder. (7) An incised wound 2 c.m. x 1/2 c.m. muscle deep on back left arm 8 c.m. below left shoulder. (8) An incised wound 3 c.m. x 1 c.m. on mid back of left arm muscle deep 11 c.m. below shoulder. (9) An incised wound 3 c.m. x 1 c.m: x muscle deep on lower back of left arm 9 c.m. above left elbow. (10) A stab wound 2 c.m. x 1 c.m. on outer side of upper end of left chest in armpit area. The doctor opined that the cause of death was haemorrhage and shock due to injuries Nos.1 to 10 collectively. He further opined that injuries Nos.1, 5 and 10 could also be sufficient to cause death individually. The injuries were caused by a sharp-edged weapon and were ante-mortem. The probable time between injuries and death was immediate while between death and post-mortem was about 22 hours.

6. Eye-witnesses account was furnished by Chiragh Din (P.W.2) and Imdad Ali (P.W.3). Recovery of blood-stained knife P.1 was proved by Shaukat Ali P.W.4 and Muhammad Idrees, Police Inspector P.W.12.

7. The accused in his statement under section 342, Cr.P.C. denied the allegations levelled against him. He deposed that he could not give the reason far which he was involved in the case. However, in the same breath, he stated that he had been implicated in the case on account of enmity. No evidence was, however, produced by him in his defence.

8. Learned trial Judge believed the ocular account, recovery and motive and as such convicted and sentenced the appellant as already mentioned above.

9. It is argued by the learned counsel that the prosecution story is doubtful inasmuch as Chiragh Din and Imdad Ali, the eye-witnesses were not present when the occurrence took place. He argues that the complainant, Chiargh Din is not a resident of place of occurrence. According to him, the complainant resides at a distance of more than 100 miles away from the place of occurrence. He also states that there is delay in lodging the F.I.R. He maintains that post-mortem examination of the ladies was conducted after a considerable delay and that no plausible explanation was given in that behalf. Learned counsel for the State has supported the conviction and sentence. He argues that F.I.R. was promptly lodged and that' Chiragh Din and Imdad Ali P.Ws. were natural witnesses and that there was no reason to disbelieve them.

10. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties and have also read the whole record with their assistance. To begin with, the prosecution has succeeded to prove motive for the commission of the crime. It is admitted that Zulfiqar, accused, is the son of real sister of Chiragh Din P.W.2. Chiragh Din and his son Imdad Ali P.Ws. unanimously deposed before the Court that on 29-4-1992, Zulfiqar came to their house and asked Mst. Majeedan to marry her daughter, Mst. Naseeban with him. She, however, did not accept the proposal. She hurled abuses and prohibited him to ask for the hands of Mst. Naseeban in future. In turn, Zulfiqar issued threats with dire consequences that, in case, Mst. Naseeban was not married with him, she would not be allowed to be married with some other person. P.W.2 and P.W.3 have deposed that on 29-4-1992, when Mst. Naseeban was going alongwith her mother Mst. Majeedan to learn embroidery, on the way, the accused murdered them with his knife P.1. This testimony of P.Ws. was materially corroborated by the medical evidence of Dr. Masood Iqbal Bokhari P.W.1. The doctor found, in all 21 injuries on Mst. Naseeban and Mst. Majeedan. The knife P.1, the weapon of offence was found to have been stained with human blood. The recovery of weapon was proved by Shaukat Ali P.W.4 and Muhammad Idrees P.W.12. This piece of evidence would further corroborate the prosecution case. The objection that Chiragh Din did not reside in the village where the occurrence took place and that he was summoned later on is without any substance because it is proved by reliable evidence that he was already present alongwith his son Imdad Ali at the time of incident. There is also no evidence to suggest that there existed enmity between the parties. The accused as already pointed out above is the nephew of the complainant. There was thus no occasion for the complainant party to falsely implicate him in the case. We are, therefore convinced to believe the motive on the basis of which Mst. Naseeban and Mst. Majeedan were murdered by the appellant with knife P.1. in a pre-planned manner. The occurrence took place at about 9-00 a.m. while the report was lodged with police station, which is at a distance of 12 k.m. at 11-15~a.m. on the same day with full promptitude. This is a case of single accused who committee these gruesome murders with his knife in broad daylight.

11. The result of the above discussion is that the prosecution has succeeded to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. In the above situation, the appellant does not deserve any leniency because he finished two innocent ladies. He was thus rightly convicted and suitably sentenced by the learned trial Judge. There is, therefore, no substance in the appeal, which is hereby dismissed. N.H.Q./137/SAC Appeal dismissed.