Khadija stabbing case: Shah Hussain arrested from SC

ISLAMABAD: Declaring the Lahore High Court order null and void, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed to arrest the accused Shah Hussain, who had stabbed Khadija Siddiqi in Lahore three years ago.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa had taken up  Khadija's appeal against the acquittal today.

Hussain was taken into custody from the courtroom after the bench overturned the Lahore High Court decision.

Khadija Siddiqi, now student of bar-at-law at the City Law University, was stabbed over two dozen times on a busy Lahore Street in May 2016 as she collected her six-year-old sister Sofia Siddiqui from school. She was attacked by her class fellow Shah Hussain who didn’t like the fact that Khadija Siddiqi refused to acknowledge his moves and stopped talking.

A Lahore judicial magistrate handed down seven-year rigorous imprisonment to Shah Hussain after finding him guilty of attempted murder on July 29, 2017. However, a sessions court in March 2018 set aside the minor penalties of the convict and commuted the sentenced to five years. Last year, the Lahore High Court acquitted the convict on the basis of insufficient evidence.

Former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar took notice of the acquittal back in June 2018 throug ha suo moto. Newly sworn in Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa has now listed the Khadija Siddiqi stabbing case for January 23 when he will hear the appeal against the LHC’s decision to acquit the accused in the case. The former CJP, as the head of a two member bench. had forwarded the appeal to another two-member Supreme Court bench led by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa.