Mashal's father challenges ATC's verdict in PHC, seeks death penalty

 PESHAWAR: Mashal Khan’s father on Friday challenged the anti-terrorism court’s verdict in his son’s lynching case in the Peshawar High Court (PHC) and pleaded to turn the convicts’ life imprisonment into death penalty.

Iqbal Lala, Mashal Khan’s father, filed three separate appeals, two against Arif Khan and Asad Zia Katlang who were sentenced to life imprisonment and the third one against the acquittal of Azhar and Sabir Mayar in PHC.

He pleaded the court to turn Arif Khan and Asad Zia Katlang’s life imprisonment into death penalty.

Earlier, an anti-terrorism court on March 21 had awarded life imprisonment to two convicts, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) councillor Arif Khan in the Mashal Khan lynching case.

The ATC, however, acquitted two other accused, including Sabir and Izhar for want of evidence. The court was scheduled to announce its verdict on March 16 but it delayed the decision until March 21 for some unknown reason.

Read More: Mashal Khan’s father satisfied with ATC verdict in lynching case

Mashal Khan, 23, a student of Mass Communications at Mardan’s Abdul Wali Khan University, was beaten and shot to death by an unruly mob on April 13, 2017, after being accused of blasphemy.

A total of 61 suspects were nominated in the first information report, out of these, 57 were sentenced by an ATC on February 7, 2018. The four suspects that had been on the run surrendered themselves to the court of law in June, 2018.

ATC-3 Judge Mahmoodul Hassan Khattak tried the accused and reserved verdict earlier this week after both prosecution and defence sides finished their arguments.