Man accused of murder acquitted 3 years after death

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday gave release orders for a man accused of murder—three years after his death in a jail.

A two-member bench of the LHC headed by Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan acquitted Syed Rasool, who was accused of killing a man named Baati in 2009.

The court, citing incomplete evidence and questionable method of investigation, ordered a letter of acquittal to be sent to his house.

The court had asked to provide a lawyer for Syed Rasool after he expressed his inability to pay for one due to poverty.

Rasool’s family members informed the high court that he had died of a heart attack in 2014 during his detention.

Multiple such cases have come to light recently. In December last year, Mazhar Farooq, a murder accused declared innocent by Supreme Court, was released after 21 years from jail.

A three-member bench of the apex court had stated that the prosecution had failed to provide sufficient evidence. Declaring that the pistol presented as evidence did not belong to the accused, the apex court ordered the release of Mazhar Farooq.

A trial court had sentenced Mazhar Farooq to death for a 1992 murder in Kasur. A High Court had also maintained the death sentence.

Another death row convict was acquitted by the SC in December after 11 years.

A trial court had sentenced him to death for a murdering his lover's husband. The Lahore High Court converted his death sentence into life sentence.