Perween Rahman murder case: Acquittal of prime accused challenged in SC

KARACHI: An appeal was filed in the Supreme Court (SC) against the verdict of the Sindh High Court (SHC) regarding the acquittal of the prime accused Raheem Swati in the Perween Rahman murder case, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

The SHC verdict regarding the acquittal of the prime accused in the Perween Rahman murder case was challenged in the SC Karachi Registry. The appeal was filed by the slain Perween Rahman’s sister, Aquila Ismail through her counsel, senior advocate Faisal Siddiqi.

The petition challenging the SHC verdict stated that Raheem Swati’s confessional statement recorded in 2016 clearly proves that he devised the plan to murder Perween Rahman with other accused persons to illegally occupy the land on the premises of Orangi Pilot Project (OPP) for establishing a karate club and later on planned to murder the deceased to get rid of her.

READ: PERWEEN REHMAN MURDER: SINDH GOVT DECIDES NOT TO RELEASE SUSPECTS

Moreover, Rahman’s interview in 2011 also proved the motive behind her murder. In her interview, Rahman mentioned that the prime accused Rahim Swati was threatening her to illegally occupy the land in the premises of OPP for establishing a karate club.

The petition further stated, “Most of the findings on facts recorded in the Judgment of the High Court of Sindh, are completely contrary to the evidence on the record.”

It also stated that the SHC judgment ‘is imbalanced as it only felt the obligation to protect the rights of the accused and felt no obligation to deliver justice to the victim.’

Moreover, the appeal against the remaining accused will also be filed in the top court soon.

READ: NEW JIT FORMED TO PROBE OPP DIRECTOR PERWEEN RAHMAN’S MURDER

The Director of the Orangi Pilot Project (OPP) had been murdered by two men on March 13 – 2013 near the main Manghopir road.

On December 17 – 2021, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Karachi convicted all accused persons in the murder case except Imran Swati and sentenced them to life imprisonment. Whereas, Imran Sawati was only sentenced to seven-year imprisonment for subverting the investigation and trial.

On November 21 – 2022, the Sindh High Court (SHC) acquitted all five accused persons including the prime accused Raheem Swati.