Man awarded life in jail for killing uncle

A sessions court has awarded life imprisonment to a man for killing his uncle over a property dispute. Ismail was found guilty of shooting to death his uncle Fazal within the jurisdiction of the Madina Colony police station in July 2020.

Additional Sessions Judge (West) Sohail Ahmed Mashori observed that the prosecution succeeded in proving its case against accused Ismail, sentencing him to imprisonment for life. The convict was ordered to pay Rs500,000 as compensation to the legal heirs of the deceased, and in case of failure to do so, he would have to undergo additional six-month imprisonment.

He was handed down five-year-imprisonment and a Rs100,000 fine for shooting and injuring complainant Zaffar Khan and his brothers. The judge observed that the question of the quantum of punishment arose as whether the accused may be awarded capital punishment or life imprisonment. “It has time and again been reiterated by the apex court that while death sentence is a usual penalty in case of Qatl-e-Amd, life imprisonment being legal punishment may be considered,” the judge said.

“Accused Ismail is young man having no previous criminal record. Moreover, the complainant has already entered into compromise with co-accused Hassan,” he noted, adding that in such mitigating circumstances, it was more appropriate to award imprisonment for life instead of the capital punishment.

According to the prosecution, on July 22, 2020, complainant Zaffar Khan along with his father Fazal Khan and brothers was present at his home when uncles Hassan and Ibrahim and cousins Ismail and Noor Muhammad came outside their residence, opening indiscriminate firing.