LAST year, a judicial magistrate sentenced law student Shah Husain to prison for seven years for stabbing 21-year-old fellow student Khadija Siddiqui. Stabbed 23 times, she was critically injured in the May 2016 attack. During the trial, both the motorcycle and the knife used were put forth, while the prosecution presented 14 witnesses to what the judge ruled counted as attempted murder `without any shadow of a minor doubt`. It is shocking, therefore, that this week, the Lahore High Court overturned the verdict. Acquitting the assailant, Justice Sardar Ahmed Naeem in a controversial judgement ruled the prosecution had `failed to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt`. However, many will question whether this judgement provided coherent reasoning for the acquittal. Noting that Khadija stated the assailant had harassed her, it questions why she earlier wrote a letter asking him to marry her. Surely, she had the right to change her mind based on her perceptions. Perhaps the defence should have been asked whether rejecting the assailant had prompted the frenzied attack. The fact that Shah Hussain`s father belongs to the legal fraternity has also caused some to doubt judicial independence.

From the start, Ms Siddiqui has shown strength of character by remaining steadfast in her quest for justice. She now intends to challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court. Many have demanded justice for her on social media, expressing their concern at the verdict, and Chief Justice Saqib Nasir has done well to summon records of her case although some would ask if justice is not served in Pakistan until it is vociferously demanded, and that too through media attention. Sadly, women`s access to justice in this country is already limited and patriarchal perceptions only ensure that far too often justice is not even-handed.