Mashal Khan murder: One gets death, five life sentence

International Desk: The anti-terrorism court (ATC) hearing the murder case of university student Mashal Khan announced its verdict on Wednesday, awarding the death sentence to one accused and handing life sentences to five others.

Twenty-five accused in the case were awarded sentences of four years each, while 26 suspects were acquitted by the court for lack of evidence.

On April 13, 2017, 23-year-old Mashal Khan was lynched and murdered by an angry mob at the Abdul Wali Khan University on the pretext of committing blasphemy. However, investigators found no proof of blasphemy and ruled that the murder was politically motivated.

According to the verdict read out by ATC Judge Fazal-e-Subhan, the primary accused in the case, Imran was sentenced to death under Section 302(b) of the Pakistan Penal Code. He was also sentenced under Section 7(1) ATA, 1997 to death and a fine of Rs100,000 or in case of default to undergo simple imprisonment for six months. The ATC further sentenced him to five years rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs50,000 and in case of default, to undergo six months simple imprisonment.

Imran had earlier, in front of a judicial magistrate, admitted to shooting Mashal Khan.

The ATC awarded life sentences amounting to 25 years in jail to Fazal-e-Raziq, Mujeebullah, Ishfaq Khan, Bilal Baksh and Mudassir Bashir.

The twenty-five accused sentenced to four years, will serve their sentence concurrently. They have been sentenced under Section 11-WW ATA, 1997 to three years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs50,000 or in case of default, further six months imprisonment.

Geo News has learnt that the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will file appeals in the high court against the acquittal of suspects.

A total of 57 accused were indicted in the case while another, Mian Saeed, was arrested on January 4. Three more suspects, including a tehsil councillor from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), are still absconding.

Ahead of Wednesday’s verdict, heavy security was deployed at the jail where the accused were detained, with the area cordoned off by around 300 regular police and elite commandos.

Initially, the case was scheduled to be heard at the ATC in Mardan, however, on the request of Mashal’s father, it was transferred to the Abbottabad ATC which heard the case in Haripur Jail for fear of a law and order situation.

Source: Agencies


risingbd/Dhaka/Feb 7, 2018/AI