Pakistan: 2 sentenced to death in child kidnap, murder case

An antiterrorism court on Saturday awarded death sentence to 2 men for kidnapping and killing a child over non-payment of ransom.

4 accused — Abdul Ghaffar Brohi, Abdullah Magsi, Ali Magsi alias Ali Dino and Zahid Hussain Gopang — were charged with kidnapping 4 1/2-year-old Ammar Hussain Jatoi within the remit of the Waleed police station, Larkana in 2012.

On Saturday, the ATC-II judge, who conducted the trial in the judicial complex inside the central prison, pronounced his verdict reserved after recording evidence and final arguments.

The ATC hands down life imprisonment to 2 more accused

The judge noted that the prosecution successfully proved the allegations of kidnapping for ransom against the accused Abdul Ghaffar Brohi and Abdullah Magsi and handed down capital punishment to them.

The judge awarded life imprisonment to accused Ali Magsi and Zahid Hussain and also ordered them to pay Rs500,000 each to the legal heirs of the victim as compensation.

The judge further sentenced them to four-year imprisonment for possessing illicit arms and ammunition. However, all the sentences shall run concurrently.

According to the prosecution, the accused abducted the child, a student of nursery class, when he was playing outside his house in the Sheikh Zayed Colony on March 9, 2012 and drove him away in a car.

Later, they demanded a ransom of Rs5 million for his safe release. But, his body was found from an abandoned house as the family failed to pay the ransom, the prosecution added. The accused were arrested and led the police to the recovery of the child’s body.

Trial transferred due to political interference

On April 25, 2012 the Sindh High Court (SHC) had ordered transfer of the case from ATC Larkana to an ATC in Karachi after complainant Asfar Hussain Jatoi moved an application alleging that then ministers belonging to the Pakistan Peoples Party were influencing the investigation to favour the accused persons.

“All the prosecution witnesses (were) examined; (they) supported that on Feb 13, 2012 the dead body of the child was recovered at the pointation of accused persons, mashirnama was prepared as per direction of Assistant Superintendent of Police, but nothing was brought on record,” the judge wrote in the order.

He added: “In such circumstances the case was transferred to Karachi due to involvement of three Ministers of political party.”

The verdict added that “the mashirnama of the (victim’s) body was prepared, but it was destroyed on political grounds and that record is available in his report under the Section 168 of the Criminal Procedure Code”.

Earlier, special public prosecutor Nazeer Ahmed Bhangwar submitted that from the very beginning of the investigation the police were favouring the accused persons and had tried to hide the facts.

He added that two brothers-in-law of the complainant had seen the four accused persons with arms in the car, as they were taking away the child and had informed the complainant about the incident.

The prosecutor argued that accused Abdullah Magsi had made a phone call to the complainant demanding Rs5m ransom for the safe release of his kidnapped son, but agreed on Rs3.5m. While the complainant was arranging the money the same accused called him the next day and asked him to pick the body of his kidnapped son from a house in Yar Mohammad Colony on March 13, 2013, he added.

He contended that the accused persons were arrested on March 13, 2013 and on their information the police had recovered the body, but the police showed their arrest on March 15 to create doubts and favour the accused. He argued that the evidence fully corroborated the prosecution’s case and pleaded to the court to convict them in accordance with the law.

Advocate Altaf Hussain for the complainant said that the accused persons were influential and politically involved, therefore, under their influence the police did not investigate the case honestly. He added that the complainant had to move an application for re-investigation, which was conducted after great difficulty.

On the other hand, defence counsel Wazeer Hussain Khoso and Safdar Ali Bhutto argued that their clients were innocent, but the police framed them in a false and fabricated case with mala fide intentions.

5 cases under Sections 302 (premeditated murder), 365-A (kidnapping for ransom), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offenders) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 (acts of terrorism) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 and Section 13-E of the Arms Ordinance were registered at the Waleed police station.

Source: dawn.com, Staff, September 29, 2019

⚑ | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.

Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

Singapore executes three drug mules over two days

Singapore hanged three people for drug offences last week, bringing the total number of executions to 17 this year - the highest since 2003. These come a week before a constitutional challenge against the death penalty for drug offences is due to be heard. Singapore has some of the world's harshest anti-drug laws, which it says are a necessary deterrent to drug crime, a major issue elsewhere in South East Asia. Anyone convicted of trafficking - which includes selling, giving, transporting or administering - more than 15g of diamorphine, 30g of cocaine, 250g of methamphetamine and 500g of cannabis in Singapore will be handed the death sentence.

Florida | After nearly 50 years on death row, Tommy Zeigler seeks final chance at freedom

The Winter Garden Police chief was at a party on Christmas Eve 1975 when he received a phone call from his friend Tommy Zeigler, the owner of a furniture store on Dillard Street. “I’ve been shot, please hurry,” Zeigler told the chief as he struggled for breath. When police arrived at the store, Zeigler, 30, managed to unlock the door and then collapsed “with a gaping bullet hole through his lower abdomen,” court records show. In the store, detectives found a gruesome, bloody crime scene and several guns. Four other people — Zeigler’s wife, his in-laws and a laborer — lay dead.

Louisiana death row inmate freed after nearly 30 years as overturned conviction upends case

A Louisiana man who spent nearly 30 years on death row walked out of prison Wednesday after a judge overturned his conviction and granted him bail. Jimmie Duncan, now in his 60s, was sentenced to death in 1998 for the alleged rape and drowning of his girlfriend’s 23-month-old daughter, Haley Oliveaux — a case long clouded by disputed forensic testimony. His release comes months after a state judge ruled that the evidence prosecutors used to secure the conviction was unreliable and rooted in discredited bite-mark analysis.

Oklahoma board recommends clemency for inmate set to be executed next week

A voting board in Oklahoma decided Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a death row inmate who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection next week at the state penitentiary in McAlester. Wood, 46, faces execution for his conviction in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker, at an Oklahoma City hotel on New Year's Eve, court records show. The recommendation was decided in a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by either the governor or the state's top judicial official, according to CBS News affiliate KWTV. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt will consider the recommendation as he weighs whether to grant or deny Wood's clemency request, which would mean sparing him from execution and reducing his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Vietnam | Woman sentenced to death for poisoning 4 family members with cyanide

A woman in Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam was sentenced to death on Thursday for killing family members including two young children in a series of cyanide poisonings that shocked her community. The Dong Nai People's Court found 39-year-old Nguyen Thi Hong Bich guilty of murder and of illegally possessing and using toxic chemicals. Judges described her actions as "cold-blooded, inhumane and calculated," saying Bich exploited the trust of her victims and "destroyed every ethical bond within her family."

Afghanistan | Two Sons Of Executed Man Also Face Death Penalty, Says Taliban

The Taliban governor’s spokesperson in Khost said on Tuesday that two sons of a man executed earlier that day have also been sentenced to death. Their executions, he said, have been postponed because the heir of the victims is not currently in Afghanistan. Mostaghfer Gurbaz, spokesperson for the Taliban governor in Khost, also released details of the charges against the man executed on Tuesday, identified as Mangal. He said Mangal was accused of killing members of a family.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers carry out public execution in sports stadium

The man had been convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including children, and was executed by one of their relatives, according to police. Afghanistan's Taliban authorities carried out the public execution of a man on Tuesday convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including several children, earlier this year. Tens of thousands of people attended the execution at a sports stadium in the eastern city of Khost, which the Supreme Court said was the eleventh since the Taliban seized power in 2021 in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of US and NATO forces.

Utah | Ralph Menzies dies on death row less than 3 months after his execution was called off

Judge was set to consider arguments in December about Menzies’ mental fitness Ralph Menzies, who spent more than 3 decades on Utah’s death row for the 1986 murder of Maurine Hunsaker, has died. Menzies, 67, died of “presumed natural causes at a local hospital” Wednesday afternoon, according to the Utah Department of Corrections. Matt Hunsaker, Maurine Hunsaker’s son, said Menzies’ death “was a complete surprise.” “First off, I’d say that I’m numb. And second off, I would say, grateful,” Hunsaker told Utah News Dispatch. “I’m grateful that my family does not have to endure this for the holidays.”

Iran carries out public hanging of "double-rapist"

Iran on Tuesday publicly executed a man after convicting him of raping two women in the northern province of Semnan. The execution was carried out in the town of Bastam after the Supreme Court upheld the verdict, the judiciary's official outlet Mizan Online reported. Mizan cited the head of the provincial judiciary, Mohammad Akbari, as saying the ruling had been 'confirmed and enforced after precise review by the Supreme Court'. The provincial authority said the man had 'deceived two women and committed rape by force and coercion', adding that he used 'intimidation and threats' to instil fear of reputational harm in the victims.

Burkina Faso to bring back death penalty

Burkina Faso's military rulers will bring back the death penalty, which was abolished in 2018, the country's Council of Ministers announced on Thursday. "This draft penal code reinstates the death penalty for a number of offences, including high treason, acts of terrorism, acts of espionage, among others," stated the information service of the Burkinabe government. Burkina Faso last carried out an execution in 1988.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog