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Official Citation: 2025 IHC 245321
Court / Jurisdiction: Islamabad High Court
Parties: Abdullah vs The State etc.
Ruling Summary: This decision was rendered by the Islamabad High Court, officially reported as 2025 IHC 245321. In this matter between Abdullah and The State etc., the court adjudicated key questions of statutory construction, procedural regularity, and legal precedent under Pakistani law.
Core Holding: The honorable bench evaluated governing statutory provisions and judicial authorities to establish the rights of the parties, delivering the binding reasoning set out below.
COURT: Islamabad High Court (Honourable Mr. Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir) AUTHOR JUDGE: Honourable Mr. Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir DECISION DATE: 10-DEC-2025 CASE NO: Criminal Appeal-105-2025 CITATION: 2025 IHC 245321 PARTIES: Abdullah VS The State etc. LAW / SECTION: under section 173,340,342,410 Cr PC | under sections 302, 201 and 34 PPC SUBJECT: Against Conviction (PPC), Life Imprisonment REMARKS: Crl Appeal against conviction in FIR No. 817/2023 dated 27.12.2023 U/s 302, 201, 34 PPC P.S. Bara Kahu, Islamabad ============================================================ JUDGMENT-SHEET IN THE ISLAMABAD HIGH COURT, ISLAMABAD (JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT)
Criminal Appeal No.105-2025 Abdullah Versus The State and another
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Arbab Muhammad Tahir, J:- Through the listed criminal appeal under section 410 Cr PC, appellant Abdullah son of Bacha Muhammad impugns judgment dated 24.02.2025, passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge-IV, Islamabad-East, whereby he was convicted in case FIR No. 817, dated 27.12.2023, under sections 302, 201 and 34 PPC, Police Station Bhara Kahu, Islamabad, and sentenced under section 302(b) PPC to Life Imprisonment with fine of Rs.50,000/-, in default to pay the amount of fine, to further undergo Six Months imprisonment and to pay an amount of Rs.1,00,000/- to the legal heirs of the deceased as compensation in terms of Section 544-A Cr. PC, the compensation shall be recoverable as arrears of land revenue, with benefit of Section 382-B Cr. PC.
2- The subject FIR Ex.PD, stood registered on the complaint Ex. PC of Sher Muhammad son of Ajab Noor, father of the deceased, on 27.12.2023, on the allegations of commission of murder of his daughter and causing disappearance of evidence of commission of offence, by his in-laws i.e. appellant Abdullah (husband), his brother-in-law Shahabduddin, two sisters Shabnam Bibi, Gulmina and brother Anees, who were living in one and the same house, Appellant by : Mr. Naeem Ullah Khan, Advocate. Respondents by : Mr. Zahid Abbas, Advocate for respondent, Malik Awais Haider, State Counsel, Ghaus, S.I with record. Date of Hearing : 06.11.2025
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situated near Bhera Pull, Abdullah Town, Bhara Kahu Islamabad. After the registration of FIR, formal investigation was conducted and on being found guilty, appellant-husband of the deceased and his brother-in-law Shahabuddin were sent up to face the trial by the court of competent jurisdiction by filing report under section 173 Cr PC whereby they were formally charge sheeted on 27.05.2025.
3- The prosecution in order to substantiate the charge against the appellant and co-accused Shahabuddin got examined 10 prosecution witnesses i.e. PW-1 Khalid Nawaz SI, who prepared inquest report Ex.PA, application for keeping the dead body in mortuary Ex.PB and registered FIR Ex. PD, PW-2 Sher Muhammad father of the deceased who deposed to prove the contents of his complaint, PW-3 Sadi Khan, uncle of the deceased, attested inquest report Ex. PA, receipt of dead body Ex. PE and Ex.PF whereby the IO had taken in his possession, last worn clothes of the deceased, PW-4 Amir Shahzad, draftsman, prepared scaled site plan Ex. PG of the place of occurrence.
4- PW-5 Sikander Hayat Constable testified arrest of the appellant and co-accused Shahabuddin on 28.12.2023, attested recovery memo. Ex. PH whereby personal belongings of appellant were taken into possession by the IO, Ex. PJ whereby last worn clothes of the deceased, which the appellant got recovered i.e. torn jersey Ex.P1, torn shirt Ex.P2, torn shalwar Ex.P3, three pieces of cable wire of black colour Ex. P4/1-3, and two pieces of cloth Ex. P5/1-2 were taken into possession by the IO, Ex. PK whereby IO took in his possession post mortem report, four sealed boxes and three brown envelops.
5- PW-6 Umar Hayat transmitted sealed parcels to the office of Punjab Forensic Science Agency Lahore, PW-7 Lady Constable Uzma Rani deposed to prove presence of bruises on the dead body of the deceased, at the time of first inspection when inquest report was prepared and also escorted the dead body to the hospital for
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postmortem examination.
6- PW-8 Dr. Shazia Nasir, Medico Legal Officer conducted postmortem examination on the dead body of the deceased and observed ‘multiple marks of violence on whole body, laceration on left angle of mouth, skin laceration on left wrist, multiple skin ulcers on the back.’
7- PW-9 Muhammad Ghous, Sub Inspector is the Investigating Officer of the case and deposed to prove the details of investigation conducted by him that include arrest of the appellant and co accused, recovery of incriminating material on the disclosure and pointation of the appellant from his house.
8- PW-10 Mst. Farhat Bibi, mother of the deceased and wife of complainant Sher Muhammad in her statement did not support the prosecution version, declared hostile and subjected to cross examination by the prosecution wherein she admitted marks of violence on the body of her deceased daughter, filing of affidavit implicating the accused persons as real culprit and non-participation of accused persons in funeral procession of the deceased.
9- The Learned Assistant District Public Prosecutor tendered in evidence the report of Toxicology Analysis, Histopathology, Forensic DNA and Serology Analysis Ex. PS, PT and PU respectively.
10- The incriminating material which the appellant got recovered comprised of torn jersy P1, town shirt P2, torn shalwar P3, three pieces of black cable wire P4/1-3, two pieces of clothes P5/1-2 and club/danda P6 which were taken into possession by the Investigating Officer vide recovery memo Ex. PJ and Ex.PL respectively.
11- The appellant in his statement recorded under section 342 Cr. PC has taken the plea that ‘the deceased was not well and
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she remained ill that is why her father brought her to native village and this fact is very well known to the mother of the deceased. Complainant implicated me in this false case and due to his personal grudge and deceased died natural death and no one killed her.’ However, the appellant opted not to make his statement on oath under section 340(2) Cr PC or to produce any defense evidence. The learned trial court, at the conclusion of trial, heard learned defense counsel and the learned Prosecutor and convicted the appellant in terms noted in paragraph 01 above while co-accused Shahabuddin was acquitted of the charge vide impugned judgment for want of evidence. Hence, listed appeal.
12- Learned counsel for the appellant argued that the prosecution evidence on record is highly discrepant, improbable, that it is a case of circumstantial evidence having no incriminating material which could be made basis to connect the appellant with the commission of the alleged offence; that the alleged recoveries without joining private witnesses retain no legal worth; that on the same set of evidence, co accused has been acquitted whereas the appellant held guilty; that the prosecution has failed to prove motive, strained relations of the appellant with his spouse-deceased and that impugned judgment was based upon hypothesis instead evidence which is lacking in this case, therefore, liable to be set aside.
13- On the other hand, learned State Counsel assisted by counsel for the complainant repelled the above submissions by contending that the incriminating material collected during the course of investigation, which was testified by the witnesses in evidence, leave no room to disbelieve that it was the appellant who subjected his spouse to maltreatment, violence and done her to death in a brutal manner, therefore, appeal is liable to be dismissed.
14- Heard the learned counsel for the appellant, learned Prosecutor and gone through the evidence on record with their able assistance.
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15- At the inception, it would be advantageous to refer some facts emerged through the statements of prosecution witnesses.
PW-1, Khalid Nawaz, S.I. Complainant brought/shifted dead body of the deceased to the Police Station on Ambulance. Complainant was accompanied by 5/7 people.
PW-2, Sher Muhammad son of Ajab Noor-examination in chief. There were marks of violence and torture on the dead body of deceased that’s how I came to know that my son in law and his family had murdered my daughter. I reported the incident to police on the facts, she was living with her husband and in law in their house and she had marks of violence on her body.
PW-2 cross-examination It takes around 8/10 hours to reach Islamabad from Swat. When I reached Police Station and lodged complaint at that time driver of the vehicle Imran and one of maternal nephew (Bahanja) was also accompanied with me. My daughter was not living happily with accused.
PW-3 Sadi khan son of Ajab Noor examination in chief Lubna deceased is my niece and wife of accused Abdullah. In cross-examination stated that it is correct that I came Islamabad on 27.12.2023 to Bhara Kahu Police Station, as police officials of Bhara Kahu had called concerned Police Station in Sawat to send the dead body for the postmortem in Islamabad after Magrib, I reached at Islamabad. The dead body also reached after Magrib.
PW-5 Sikandar Hayat 5804/C, cross-examination It is incorrect to suggest that accused persons were not arrested by us, rather they surrendered themselves. It is correct that I went at the same place i.e. place of recovery twice, to effect recovery.
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PW-7 Uzma Rani, 1729/LC examination in chief On the instructions of I.O, I inspected dead body of the deceased Lubna Bibi and got noted my observations regarding presence of bruises on the dead body to Khalid Nawaz S.I who prepared inquest report on the basis of those notes. I saw bruises only at the dead body.
PW-9, Muhammad Ghous S.I, cross-examination It is incorrect to suggest that deceased was living in Sawat at the time of her death. All rooms of the place of occurrence i.e. house of the accused were locked and no one was present there. It is incorrect to suggest that accused Abdullah and Shahabuddin themselves came to the Police Station and surrendered themselves before the Police. It is correct that all the witnesses deposed that prior to the occurrence, accused beaten the deceased. Doctor can better explain regarding the weapon from which the deceased sustained injuries. It is correct that no motive came to surface. Volunteered that a family rift was between the parties.
PW-10 Farhat Bibi wife of Sher Muhammad cross-examination After marriage my daughter used to live with her husband Abdullah, her two sisters in law Gulmeena and Shabnam, brother in law Anees and accused Shahabuddin (husband of Shabnam). There were marks of violence on the dead body. Again said there were no marks of violence. Accused Abdullah and Shahab did not participate in the funeral ceremony of my daughter as he was in the lockup. AND Statement of appellant under Section 342 Cr.PC In year 2023, I contracted marriage with deceased and I have cordial relations with her and have great affections of love. There is a family dispute between my father in law and my mother in law regarding our marriage and they are not happy with our matrimonial relation. The deceased was not well and she remained ill that why her father brought her to native village and this fact is very well known to the mother of deceased I never maltreated deceased as I loved her very much. My father in law implicated me in this false case due to his personal grudge and deceased died natural death and no one killed her.
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16- It is a case of murder of a woman namely Lubna, aged 16 years, (‘deceased’) by his spouse (appellant) by subjecting her to severe domestic violence. The deceased Lubna, aged about 16 years, was married to the appellant, few months before the alleged incident. They had been living in one and the same house. The father of the deceased/complainant, who originally hails from Swat, at present, is living with his family in a village in Islamabad.
17- The deceased Lubna died on 26.12.2023 and her post-mortem was conducted by PW-8 on the next day i.e. 27.12.2023 wherein the Lady Medico Legal Officer observed ‘multiple marks of violence on whole body, laceration of left angle of mouth, skin laceration on left wrist and multiple skin ulcers on the back’. Although, it has been the defense of the appellant that the deceased was ill, complainant took her to his house, she died natural death and nobody killed her, yet the fact remains that no question was put to the MLO, PW-8 on the above observations, thus went unquestioned, leaving no room to disbelieve such an important piece of evidence that the lady had sustained multiple injuries on her body. The statement of MLO is in line with the inquiry report, Ex.PA, the very first document that was prepared at the time of first inspection of the body, statements of Lady Constable Uzma Rani PW-7, Khalid Nawaz SI, PW-1, father of the deceased Sher Muhammad PW-2 and above all, mother of the deceased PW-10 Farhat Bibi, who opted not to support the prosecution version and declared hostile, in cross examination admitted that there were marks of violence on the body of the deceased. The unnatural death of the deceased by violence, therefore, stood established through the evidence on record.
18- The significant piece of incriminating material that led to draw inference regarding involvement of the appellant in the commission of alleged offence, came from cross-examination of father of the deceased PW-2 Sher Muhammad wherein response to a question by defense counsel for the appellant, the witness replied in terms that ‘my daughter was not living happily with the accused. It is incorrect
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to suggest that I myself tortured my daughter for saving myself from the criminal proceedings, I took the dead body from my house towards Islamabad and concocted a false story against the accused Abdullah.’ This portion of statement not only establishes the fact that the deceased was subjected to torture but also falsifies and contradicts appellant’s own stance that the deceased died of natural death.
19- The natural account of the happenings given by the father of the deceased and father-in-law of the appellant PW-2 Sher Muhammad fully establishes the fact of taking away the dead body of the deceased by the appellant to her native house in Swat, from where PW-2 brought back the dead body through a vehicle, went to police station and lodged the FIR wherein he fully implicated the appellant as main culprit, who after his arrest, disclosed and got recovered last worn clothes of the deceased i.e. Jersey P1, torn shirt P2, torn shalwar P3 besides three pieces of cable wire P4./1-3, club P6 with which the appellant used to beat and torture the deceased and two pieces of cloths P5/1-2, used by him for tying the dead body in order to keep it straight.
20- It is noticed that in the cases like present one wherein domestic violence had taken the life of an innocent girl, parents despite complaints of torture and maltreatment by husband or in-laws, force their daughters to live and stay with same person. Such daughters, undeniably, are victims of domestic violence who, otherwise, are entitled for help and support because no just law on earth allows continuity of a forced tie but typical cultural thoughts compel the parents to send back their daughters to such like hell. According to a study carried out in the year 2009 by Human Rights Watch, it is estimated that between 20 to 30 percent women in Pakistan have suffered a form of abuse. An estimated 5000 women are killed per year from domestic violence, with thousands of others maimed or disabled from physical to psychological and sexual abuse from intimated partners, the majority of victims were killed by
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family members. A survey carried out by the Thomson Reuters Foundation ranked Pakistan as the third most dangerous country in the world for women, after Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The problem is after performing the Nikah the family members are not willing to help and support their daughters.
21- The sequel of above discussion is that the prosecution by producing evidence in the shape of statements of MLO, father and mother of the deceased, besides official and private witnesses who successfully stood the test of cross-examination and recovery of last worn clothes besides pieces of wire, danda and two pieces of cloth used for tying the dead body of the deceased lady, successfully proved its case against the appellant beyond any reasonable doubt. As regards quantum of sentence, the appellant has already been dealt with leniency, inter alia, on account of absence of direct evidence, therefore, deserves no modification. Consequently, listed criminal appeal fails and is accordingly dismissed.
22- Appeal Dismissed. Conviction & Sentence Upheld.
(ARBAB MUHAMMAD TAHIR) JUDGE
Announced in an open Court on ______12.2025.
JUDGE Shafqat