Karachi court says woman convicted of murder is ‘not guilty’ seven months after she died in jail

A Karachi court on January 10 exonerated a woman, Saima Farhan, and four of her family members, for their alleged involvement in a murder case. 

However, it was too late for Saima, as she was exonerated seven months after her death in Central Jail, where she remained incarcerated for almost a year-and-a-half.

Saima, 35, who was an aalima and used to teach the Holy Quran to the person she was accused of killing, died in jail on June 14, 2021, due to severe abdominal and kidney issues. Jail authorities, in her death report, also revealed that she was a cancer patient.

The defence counsel — Muhmmad Akbar Khan and his associate Sheikh Saqib Ahmed — while talking to Geo.tv said: “During the trial, Saima asked us at every hearing: ‘Wakeel sahib, hamein bail kab milegi? (when will we be granted bail)?”

The lawyers, however, lamented not being able to share the happy news that she was finally exonerated.

Saima’s incarceration began on February 14, 2020, after she was arrested for allegedly poisoning her neighbour and friend, Rukhsar.

Following Rukhsar’s death, her mother, Shahnaz, sought to register a complaint against Saima and her family members for allegedly poisoning her daughter.

Saima’s family members, speaking to Geo.tv, said the complainants built a “false case” against them with the “help of the police” to usurp the property Saima owned.

Murder charges against Saima were officially framed on February 6, 2021.

Even after winning a legal battle and emerging innocent, Saima’s family members still await action against the jail authorities, whose denial of her timely medical treatment led to her death.