KARACHI: A sessions court on Monday sentenced a young man to four years in prison for murdering a woman during a robbery within the jurisdiction of the Landhi police station.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (East) Ghulam Mustafa Laghari convicted Sharib Jawaid, who was on bail, after recording the evidence and hearing arguments from both sides regarding the offence reported in September 2019.

The court noted that the accused was underage at the time of the offense and sentenced him under Section 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

The judge also imposed a fine of Rs10,000 as compensation to the victim and in case of default, he would have to serve additional for one month.

Referring to the Sindh High Court order that had set aside an earlier sentence handed down by the trial court and remanded the case for a fresh trial, the court observed: `Perusal of the record shows that the accused has already served a two-year sentence before the judgment passed by the Hon`ble High Court of Sindh... which directed the trial court to con-duct a de novo trial against the accused. Therefore, the accused is sent to jail to serve his remaining sentence.

Regarding another charge of house trespass, the court noted that the complainant admitted during cross-examination that the victim knew the accused, who was a relative of her domestic help, thereby dismissing the allegation of the trespass.

State prosecutor Zulfiqar Ali Shaikh stated that the complainant informed the police that he had received a phone call from his sister-in-law, who reported that Sharib, their neighbour, had forcibly entered their house and demanded belongings from his wife, Tasleem, 35. When she refused, the accused attacked her with a knife, causing injuries to her neck and body.

During the trial, the prosecution produced seven witnesses to support its case against the accused. The judge remarked, `All the material witnesses are independent, their evidence is corroborated and in consonance with each other, and at no stage was their testimony shaken by the defense counsel.

The case was registered at Landhi police station under sections 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery), 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint) of the PPC.