OKARA – A Pakistani court has sentenced a father and son to death for the murder of a young woman in an alleged honour killing case.
An additional sessions judge announced the verdict in the case of Maria Bibi, who was killed in Chak 477-JB Allowal. The case gained widespread attention after a video of the incident went viral on social media.
The convicted men, Abdul Sattar and his son Faisal, were found guilty of murdering Maria. Faisal had earlier confessed in a recorded video while in police custody. He claimed that he sexually assaulted and strangled Maria to cover up their relationship, though there were no witnesses to support his statement.
The police later updated the case’s First Information Report (FIR) to include charges under Section 311 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), which deals with honour killings.
Another brother of the accused and his wife were also arrested for allegedly withholding information about the murder. According to their statements, Maria had told them about Faisal and his father’s actions a day before she was killed. Shahbaz, one of Maria’s relatives, recorded the murder secretly while pretending to be on a call with another sister.
Along with the death penalty under Section 302, the court also ordered the convicted men to pay Rs10 million in compensation to Maria’s family. Failure to pay will result in an additional six months of imprisonment.