Wife killer sentenced to 16 years in jail

JALALABAD (PAN): A man was sentenced by the provincial appellate court to 16 years in jail for killing his spouse in eastern Nangarhar province, officials said.

The man killed his wife eight months ago over immoral acts, said Syed Kamin, a court official, during the proceedings. Since the accused had no proof his wife’s involvement in immorality, he was handed down the jail sentence, Kamin added.

However, the convict insisted he killed his life partner after seeing her in an objectionable situation with his brother, who managed to escape.

On the other hand, the victim’s mother said her daughter was innocent of the charge and if she really had bad moral character, she should have been handed over to her parents.

Defence counsel Samad Sirat prayed the court his client had seen his wife involved in immoral acts, and his punished should be softened under Article 398 of the Penal Code of Afghanistan.

Article 398 says: “A person, defending his honour, who sees his spouse … in the act of adultery or being in the same bed with another and immediately kills or injures one or both of them, shall be exempted from punishment … but shall be imprisoned for a period not exceeding two years.” 

Sirat requested the court to uphold the punishment of two years’ imprisonment, as handed down by the primary court. But Judge Fazal Hadi Fazil sentenced the accused to 16 years of imprisonment.

mas/mud

Visits: 8