Women exercising lawful rights should not be subjected to violence with impunity: SC

The Supreme Court has firmly stated that women who exercise their legal rights must be protected from violence, rejecting an appeal from a man convicted of murdering his former wife shortly after she obtained a divorce.

The court, in its ruling, underscored the constitutional imperative to safeguard the life and dignity of women, ensuring they are not subjected to violence with impunity for asserting their lawful rights. This principle guided the bench's decision to uphold the conviction.

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This court, being mindful of the constitutional imperative to protect the life and dignity of women and to ensure that those who exercise their lawful rights are not subjected to violence with impunity, finds no basis to interfere with the concurrent conviction.

The case involved Wasim Abbas, who was found guilty of forcibly entering his former wife Shehnaz Bibi's home and fatally shooting her six times, with an accomplice firing an additional shot. The murder occurred just 48 hours after Bibi secured an ex parte divorce decree, stemming from what the court identified as deep-seated resentment over her successful suit for dissolution of marriage.

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The deceased had lawfully exercised her rights under the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939, and the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961.

Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, writing the judgment, highlighted that the deceased had lawfully exercised her rights under the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939, and the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961. The court referenced constitutional articles protecting the life, dignity, and equal treatment of all citizens, emphasizing that violence against a woman for exercising her fundamental right to seek legal dissolution of marriage undermines the constitutional order.

The trial court had previously convicted Abbas under Section 302(b) of the Pakistan Penal Code, sentencing him to death as ta’zir and ordering compensation to the victim's heirs. He also received a 10-year rigorous imprisonment sentence for a related offense. The Supreme Court found the eyewitness testimonies to be reliable and confidence-inspiring, further solidifying the basis for the conviction.

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Any violence perpetrated against her for exercising such a right strikes at the very heart of the constitutional order and must be met with the full rigour of the law.