Supreme Court acquits 3 men in 2014 case of burning Christian couple alive in Kasur
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has acquitted three individuals who had been sentenced to death in a 2014 case in which a Christian couple was burned alive in a brick kiln in Kasur’s Kot Radha Kishan over blasphemy allegations. The court overturned the death sentences of the three men and acquitted them after giving them the “benefit of doubt”, the 26-page judgement said. The court also rejected a…
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has acquitted three men who had been sentenced to death for the 2014 burning of a Christian couple alive in a brick kiln in Kasur's Kot Radha Kishan. The court overturned their death sentences after giving them the "benefit of doubt" and rejected a state appeal against the acquittal of 102 other individuals in the case.
The court led by Justice Shahzad Ahmad Khan acquitted the three men as the prosecution had failed to prove their guilt beyond a shadow of doubt. The incident occurred on November 4, 2014, when a mob incited by local mosques attacked the Christian couple accused of blasphemy. The court acknowledged the brutal nature of the crime and highlighted contradictions in the prosecution's case, lack of independent corroboration, and the absence of burn injuries or protective protective gear on the petitioners.
The Supreme Court converted the jail petition into an appeal and dismissed the state's petition against the acquittal of the 102 others, noting no material illegality in the lower court decisions. All three petitioners were acquitted and ordered to be released immediately.
Written by urgent.news from Dawn - Pakistan's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
