Murder convict offered CA scholarship after brilliant academic performance

KARACHI: A murder convict in Karachi’s central jail has been offered a charter accountancy scholarship after he showed a remarkable academic performance in his intermediate exams, ARY News reported on Thursday.

A murder convict in Central Jail Karachi, Naeem Shah, has set an example for hardworking students after exhibiting brilliant academic performance despite living behind bars.

According to the jail officials, Naeem Shah had been sentenced to 25 years in jail following his conviction in a murder case. Shah has completed 11 years in jail, they added.

While living behind the bars for 11 years, Shah received his basic education there and later in the intermediate examinations as a private candidate, the prisoner obtained 86.73 per cent marks.

Naeem Shah was among the top 20 students who obtained the highest marks in the intermediate studies. After he proved his academic excellence, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) has offered him a scholarship.

A video has also surfaced in which he was questioned for continuing his academic journey from inside the jail.

Shah said that he had been brought to Central Jail Karachi on May 19, 2011, in a murder offence under Section 302. He detailed that he had been sentenced to life imprisonment from a local court and he appealed against the verdict to the high court.

“When I came here at the jail, I was just a middle-level student. I got myself enrolled after witnessing better education facilities here under the rehabilitation programme for inmates. The completion of the program gave me the confidence to further continue my studies of matriculation.”

The prisoner added that he has also completed computer, Urdu, Arabic courses in the jail. In 2019, the inmate had also completed a training course of the Committee for the Welfare of Prisoners led by Nasir Aslam Zahid and later taught law to the new prisoners.

“I feel honoured to get a scholarship offer from the ICAP. I will do my best.”