Pakistan: PHC upholds death penalty for man convicted of killing wife

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on September 12, 2026 held that an accused convicted of the murder of his wife cannot escape accountability by citing his responsibility to support their children, observing that the offence was grave and the victim had been subjected to violence before her death.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Sahibzada Asadullah and Justice Inamullah Khan dismissed an appeal filed by convict Najeebullah seeking reduction of his sentence and upheld his death penalty.

The court was hearing an appeal against the conviction of Najeebullah for the murder of Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) Education, Khyber, Rizwana Shaheen. The court was informed that Rizwana was repeatedly attacked with a sharp-edged weapon on June 17, 2023, inside a residential quarter at the Government Girls Primary School, Merikhel.

A case was initially registered against unidentified persons on the complaint of school watchman Murad Ali. Later, the victim’s relatives, Shafqatullah and Muhammad Jehangir, nominated her husband, Najeebullah, as the accused and claimed that he had killed her. 

The statements of the victim’s daughters were also recorded during the trial.

The sessions court, after examining the evidence, medical report and forensic material, found Najeebullah guilty and sentenced him to death, besides ordering him to pay Rs1 million as diyat to the heirs. He subsequently challenged the conviction and sentence before the high court.

Justice Sahibzada Asadullah authored a 49-page judgment after completion of arguments. According to the judgment, documentary evidence showed that the victim had previously been subjected to physical violence, including injuries to her hands and broken teeth. 

She had approached the local family court seeking dissolution of the marriage, but a reconciliation was later reached following the intervention of local elders.

The judgment acknowledged that the victim’s death and the father’s sentence would inevitably affect their children. However, it held that the welfare of the children could not be used as a shield against accountability for such a serious crime.

The court observed that a family relationship could not be used to justify violence or deprive a person of the protection and dignity guaranteed by law. It noted that the victim was herself a mother and had a right to life, dignity and protection.

The court further observed that the nature of the assault, which left the victim with eight injuries to different parts of her body, could not be treated as a mere mistake or a temporary loss of consciousness.

Finding no grounds for reducing the sentence, the high court dismissed the appeal and upheld the death penalty awarded to Najeebullah.