ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court Wednesday ordered to drop terrorism charges from the murder case of Dr Asma Rani, a medical student, who was killed in Kohat in 2018, over refusing marriage proposal of the prime suspect.

A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Mushir Alam, heard the appeal of Mujahid Afridi to exclude the ATC charges from the case. The Supreme Court in December last year had barred the anti-terrorism court in Peshawar from announcing the verdict.

In April 2018, Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court (PHC), Waqar Ahmad Seth, had ordered the transfer of the Kohat medical student case to anti-terrorism court in Peshawar. The prime suspect had challenged that order in the apex court. During the proceeding, advocate Raja Amir contended that the murder, as mentioned in the original FIR of the incident, took place owing to personal enmity.

He said there was no act of terrorism committed in the case. However, the lawyer of Asma's father argued that she was brutally murdered in front of many people, which had caused terror among the masses. Mujahid Afridi, son of a wealthy man and nephew of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) district leader in Kohat, had apparently targeted Asma Rani on January 27, 2018, after she refused his marriage proposal.

Asma in dying declaration had accused Afridi of shooting her with the help of his brother and a friend.

The prime suspect later fled to the UAE but was arrested after the Interpol issued his red notices on the request of Pakistani government.

In March, 2018, he was brought back to the country.

Asma's brother Muhammad Irfan had registered the case against the suspected killers. Asma was a student of third year at the International Medical College, Abbottabad, and on the day of her killing, she had come to Kohat to spend a weekend.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020