Brother, father caught killing woman on video, sentenced to death

A sessions court in Toba Tek Singh has on Monday sentenced the brother and father of a young woman to death for her murder after the gruesome crime was caught on video. 

Maria Bibi was strangled to death by her brother Faisal and her father Abdul Sattar on March 17, 2024 and hastily buried the next day.  The police exhumed her body on March 28 after a video, shot by Maria's other brother, showed her being strangled to death, went viral on social media sites, prompting severe outrage. 

Faisal, who can be seen in the three-minute long video strangling a woman lying on a bed, confessed to the crime three days after being arrested. His father can be seen in the video encouraging him and offering him water after the deed was done. 

An FIR registered under Sections 34 (common intention), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) and 302 (murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) had been amended and Section 311 (honour killing) had also been inducted in it.

Maria's other brother Shahbaz recorded the video while pretending to talk to his other sister. He too was arrested by the police along with his wife Sumaira. 

Additional Sessions Judge Abdul Hafeez Bhutta wrote in his order: "I convict accused Muhammad Faisal under Section 302(b) PPC and sentenced him to death as tazir for committing the murder of Maria Bibi.

“I also convict accused Abdul Sattar under Section 302(b) PPC read with 34 PPC and sentenced him to death as tazir for his shared common intention in the murder of Maria Bibi. They be hanged by their necks till they are dead." 

The judge singled out the father's act of giving water to his son after he killed Maria Bibi for stinging criticism. He also said that although Abdul Sattar didn't kill Maria with his own hands, he did not try to stop the murder and prevented Shahbaz and his wife from stopping Faisal.

Shahbaz and Sumaira have been acquitted by the court.