Key suspect in Khadija stabbing case sentenced to 23 years in prison

LAHORE: A local court on Saturday handed down a collective imprisonment of 23 years to an accused  in a case pertaining to murder attempt against law student Khadija Siddiqui, ARY News reported on Saturday.

Judicial Magistrate Mubashir Awan found suspect Shah Hussain guilty of stabbing the law student in a bid to kill her under Section 324 (attempt to commit qatl-i-amd) and sentenced him to seven years of imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs50,000. In case of default, he will have to undergo additional imprisonment of one year.

The court also convicted him under Section 337AI of the PPC for causing grievous injuries to the victim  and awarded two years of imprisonment and asked the suspect to pay Rs50,000 as Daman (compensation determined by the trial court). He was sentenced to another five years of imprisonment under Section 337AIII of the PPC and was ordered to pay 84,016 as Arsh (compensation for hurting human organ).

The court also handed down five years of imprisonment under Section 337 FII and three years under Section 337 FIV of the PPC to the suspect and ordered him to pay Rs10,0000 as Daman. He shall not be released even after the completion of his term  till he pays Daman and Arsh, the court ruled.

All the sentences shall run concurrently, the order said.

The court had earlier on July 07 reserved its verdict after hearing arguments from prosecution and defense side and examining the statements of 11 witnesses and a forensic report.

Hussain’s father, an influential lawyer, was accused of using his connections to coerce the complainant into withdrawing the case.  The suspect’s lawyer requested the trial court to quash the offence of attempted murder but his plea was turned down.

On May 23, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah had taken notice of inordinate delay in the trial and directed the court to conduct trial on daily basis. The trial court was further directed to conclude the trial within a month.

According to prosecution, Khadija Siddiqui, a student at a private law college, had been attacked by her class fellow Shah Hussain on May 3, 2016. Siddiqui had gone to pick her younger sister from school. Both sisters were about to get into their car when the accused attacked Khadija with a knife, stabbing her 23 times.