A Multan bench of the Punjab High Court has acquitted Muhammad Waseem, the main accused in the Qandil Baloch murder case.
During the hearing in Multan on Monday, Justice Sohail Nasir of the Multan Bench of the High Court acquitted the accused for deviating from the basis of consent and statements of witnesses.
Accused Muhammad Waseem was sentenced to life imprisonment by Multan Model Court on September 27, 2019.
In the court, the mother of the accused submitted affidavit of consent.
Petitioner’s counsel stated that the Sessions Court had ignored the consent form.
He said that the father of the plaintiff and the victim has passed away. Witnesses in the case also recanted their statements in the trial court.
It may be recalled that the accused Mohammad Waseem is accused of strangling his sister Qandil Baloch affiliated to Showbiz and killing her in the name of honor.
Accused Muhammad Waseem had filed an appeal in the court seeking commutation of sentence.
Qandil Baloch was strangled to death on the night between July 14 and 15, 2016. His two brothers Muhammad Wasim and Aslam Shaheen were named in the case. Later, religious scholar Mufti Abdul Qawi was also included in the case.
In September 2019, the court acquitted five accused, including a brother Aslam Shaheen and Mufti Abdul Qawi, but sentenced Muhammad Wasim to life imprisonment.
Muhammad Waseem had confessed to the crime and said the reason was to damage the family’s reputation. The father of plaintiff Qandil Baloch had also filed a petition in the court seeking pardon of his two sons, which was rejected by the court.