Law: Pakistan Penal Code, 1860

Section: 302,34

Law: Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898

Section: 544-A,382-B,342

Law: Qanun-e-Shahadat Order, 1984

Section: 129(g)

SUMMARY

This criminal appeal challenged the conviction of three accused (Sanwal alias Subhan, Ubaidullah, and Sodhal alias Sodho Khan) for the murder of Mst. Esha, based largely on circumstantial evidence. The deceased’s mother (complainant) claimed her daughter was murdered by the accused, who were the deceased’s husband, father-in-law, and brother-in-law. The prosecution primarily relied on last seen evidence and the complainant’s account of allegedly hearing her daughter’s cries over a phone call with the accused, but no direct eyewitness testimony existed. The court found major gaps in the prosecution case, including the failure to produce crucial evidence like Call Data Record (CDR), lack of eyewitnesses, no concrete identification of roles attributable to each accused, and lapses in investigation about the deceased’s medical condition before her death. The judgment highlighted that, in the absence of direct or reliable circumstantial evidence, and with such investigative lapses, a conviction for murder cannot be sustained.

CORE POINTS

Nature of Case: Death of Mst. Esha, initially reported as suicide but later prosecuted as murder by strangulation under Sections 302/34 PPC.

Appellants: Husband, father-in-law, and brother-in-law of the deceased.