OKARA – A Pakistani court has awarded death sentence to two men for the brutal murder of Maria Bibi, a young woman killed in an alleged honour killing.
An additional sessions judge announced the sentence in the case that occurred in Chak 477-JB Allowal, and caused outrage after a video of the incident went viral on social media.
The culprits – Abdul Sattar and his son Faisal – were found guilty of murdering Maria. Faisal also confessed on camera while in police custody shortly after his arrest. He claimed that he sexually assaulted and strangled Maria to conceal their relationship, but his claims got no witnesses.
Police later changed FIR, which now includes charges under Section 311 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) relating to honour killings.
Another brother of accused and his wife were also held for allegedly hiding information about the murder. They reported that Maria had confided in them about Faisal and their father’s actions the day before her death. Shahbaz claimed to have recorded the murder secretly while pretending to converse with another sister.
Besides death sentence under Section 302, both men were ordered to pay Rs10,000,000 in compensation to Maria’s heirs, with non-payment resulting in six months of simple imprisonment.
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