Police officers walk past the Supreme Court of Pakistan building in Islamabad, Pakistan April 6, 2022. REUTERS
ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court expressed concern over the rise in sororicide killings of sisters tragedies in the society.
While upholding the life imprisonment of a man who murdered his sister, the SC observed that sororicide is an unnatural breach of trust that reverberates through the conscience of society.
“Alarmingly, such tragedies are becoming increasingly visible in our society, shattering families and leaving society itself to struggle with the loss of its most fundamental bond,” said a five-page judgment authored by Judge Ishtiaq Ibrahim
Justice Ibrahim was part of a division bench headed by Justice Muhammad Hasham Khan Kakar which heard the appeal against a Lahore High Court (LHC) order that also upheld the petitioner’s life imprisonment.
The petitioner’s sister had entered into a marriage of her own choice. Petitioner repudiated the marriage and murdered his sister approximately 16 to 17 years later.
The judge said it is deeply unfortunate that siblings who share a bond of companionship, trust and mutual care from childhood should act in betrayal of that bond.
The court said that when a brother takes the life of his sister – the very person he is expected to protect, cherish and love – it goes beyond mere crime and becomes a grave moral breach.
“Traditionally, a brother’s care for his sister has been seen as a sacred responsibility, and to abandon this duty strikes at the heart of family ties and the moral fabric of society,” the order reads.
In the judgment it was observed that the complainant as the husband of the deceased was well acquainted with the petitioner, his wife’s brother; there is thus no doubt about the perpetrator’s identification.
“The quick nomination, combined with close family confidentiality, effectively eliminates any possibility of mistaken identity.
“It is a settled principle of criminal jurisprudence that substitution of the real culprit is a rare phenomenon, especially in cases where an eyewitness has seen the brutal murder of a close relative.
“In such circumstances, it is highly unlikely that the actual perpetrator would be allowed to escape while an innocent person is falsely implicated.
“The record is devoid of any material suggesting ulterior motives or unwillingness on the part of the complainant to falsely implicate the petitioner in the killing of the complainant’s wife, who was also the mother of his five children, thereby strengthening the veracity of the prosecution’s case,” it added.
The court further noted that the couple had lived together for nearly two decades without any untoward incident, making the proposed grudge unlikely.
“The confluence of ocular and medical evidence leads this court to the irresistible conclusion that the conviction and sentence imposed on the petitioner is neither baseless nor tainted with any legal infirmity.
“The learned High Court has accordingly rightly convicted and sentenced the petitioner through the impugned judgment. The petition is therefore dismissed, leave to appeal is refused and the sentences passed by the learned High Court are hereby maintained,” the SC stated.
