Juvenile acquitted in honour killing case by Peshawar High Court

The Peshawar High Court has overturned the life sentence of a juvenile convicted of killing his teenage sister in the name of honour. 

The convict’s appeal was accepted by the court after his parents, also the legal heirs of the deceased teenaged victim, pardoned him.

The bench was convinced that the parties had reached a compromise without any pressure, force, coercion, or undue influence.

On 14 February 2023, the appellant was charged in an FIR registered at Charbagh police station in Swat under Section 302 (intentional murder) and Section 311 (Fasad Fil Arz or mischief on earth) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

On 15 May 2024, a juvenile court in Swat convicted him under Section 302 PPC, sentencing him to life imprisonment and imposing a fine of Rs1 million, to be paid to the legal heirs of his deceased sister.

The trial court, however, did not apply Section 311 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) because the girl’s parents had not initially waived their right to Qisas. Consequently, the court ruled that Section 311 PPC was not relevant to the case.

According to the high court, Section 302 PPC is a compoundable offence, meaning it can be settled through compromise. However, Section 311 PPC, a non-compoundable offence, did not apply in this case. As a result, the appeal was accepted following a compromise.

The appellant’s representative, Advocate Saeed Khan, argued that while the deceased woman was married, she had already been divorced, which made her parents the sole legal heirs.

The victim’s parents appeared before the court and stated that they had pardoned their son, the appellant, in the name of Allah, waiving their right to Qisas and Diyat. They also clarified that they did not object to his acquittal.

The Case

According to the complainant, Additional SHO of Charbagh Police Station, Shamsul Haq, they received information about the murder of a woman. Upon reaching the scene, they found her body on a cot.

The deceased, who was around 17 years old, had reportedly left home two years earlier with a man named Salman, whom she married. A case was registered against Salman, leading to his arrest, while the woman was sent to a shelter home. Later, she was released and returned to her parents' house, where she was residing when she was divorced. 

The complainant alleged that the appellant killed his sister in the name of honour by slitting her throat with a sharp-edged cutter.

As per the verdict, the trial court noted that in that region, a woman eloping or leaving her family’s home is deemed shameful and dishonourable.

“It is generally observed that females are done to death on the pretext or in the name of honour on the sole ground of elopement or desertion with a male,” the court remarked, according to Dawn.

The court concluded that since the deceased had indeed eloped, her killing within the accused’s home on the grounds of honour was plausible.