Court indicts ‘Pinky’ for manslaughter

On Tuesday, a sessions court in Karachi indicted alleged drug baroness Anmol Pinky in connection with a man's death due to overdose in Lyari. District and sessions judge (South) took the case for indictment while Pinky was represented via video link. The judge read out the charges, which Pinky denied, opting to contest them. The hearing was adjourned until September 3, with prosecution witnesses summoned to record their statements.

The case was initially registered on May 9 at Baghdadi police station under murder charges, but the final challan filed before the judicial magistrate (South) dropped those charges in favor of Section 322 (manslaughter) of the Pakistan Penal Code, based on the deceased's medical examination report.

Pinky was named in the case based on the complainant's statement, who claimed to have seen the deceased's body on a footpath. The complainant also mentioned a small tin box found with the deceased, bearing Pinky's name. However, sources familiar with the case told Dawn that the prosecution pointed out significant gaps in the investigation and cautioned the Investigation Officer (IO) to continue the probe.

Despite these concerns, the IO proceeded to charge Pinky with manslaughter, lacking "substantial evidence" against her. The source also noted that the identities and locations of the deceased's relatives remained undiscovered. According to the medical report, narcotic substances were detected in the deceased's blood samples, but the post-mortem examination did not ascertain the exact cause of death, as no poisonous or toxic substances were identified.