CJP upholds death sentence given to man for murdering woman, four children

The Supreme Court (SC) upheld on Wednesday a trial court's verdict in sentencing a man to death for killing a woman and four children.

During the hearing today, the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa remarked that the accused, Faisal, killed the woman, her three children and a minor domestic servant to steal jewellery. He said that the Faisal killed the children so as to eliminate any witnesses, local media reported.

The CJP added that the man also set the house on fire to hide the murder. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government also opposed Faisal's plea for changing his death term to life term. The KP government argued that a man who had murdered five people did not deserve any relief.

During the hearing of another case on Tuesday, the CJP acquitted Asfandyar who had been ruled guilty by an anti-terrorism court of murdering Adil Butt, a student 10 years ago. Asfandyar had allegedly kidnapped Butt for ransom and killed him after the victim's family failed to pay the money. The CJP said, "We can't ignore the law and sentence a man on the basis of suspicion. As the prosecution has failed to establish allegations against Asfandyar; therefore, he is acquitted."