innocent woman waiting to be hanged

[Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International]

Ansar Burney appeals for the condemned woman

KARACHI:     The Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International, an organization 
championing the human rights in the country, has once again fervently 
appealed to President General Pervez Musharraf to release or at least 
convert the death sentence into life imprisonment of one lady prisoner, Ms 
Rubina, (24) of Sargodha.

She is a condemned prisoner (in a suspicious and dark murder of a 70 years 
old lady) waiting to be hanged in Multan Central Jail.

In a fresh letter of appeal addressed to the President, Ansar Burney Trust 
said that circumstances show that the Police/Prosecution failed to arrest 
the actual and real culprits, who committed the murder of Mst Aziz Begum 
(70) and Rubina is falsely implicated in this murder. The Anti Terrorist 
court had failed to look to the documentary as well as oral evidences 
impartially, it added.

All the witnesses produced in the Anti Terrorist Court by the prosecution 
were the close relatives of the complainant, and have no connection in the 
real evidence.

In the case FIR number 310/98 dated 21st December 1998 in the Factory Area 
Police Station, complainant had failed to establish as how he came to know 
about Rubina and why he broke into her house (Rubina s) illegally without 
any report of her missing sister to the Police. This illegal act of 
breaking-in creates suspicion whether they knew there was a dead body 
inside. He has also failed to establish in the FIR and also during the case 
that how he or the witnesses mentioned Rubina when they had never seen her 
before and how they knew where she lives. The recovery of gold jewelry from 
the house of shamma (Rubina's sister) was fake, suspicious and doubtful and 
mount to be illegal as there was no evidence or witness of the recovery. 
According to neighbors and residences of the area there had never been any 
such recovery.

"The place of occurrence according to prosecution is a house where Rubina 
lived with her ex husband, daughter and other members of the family. 
According to prosecution when the dead body was recovered, the house was 
locked and the complainant broke into the house to recover the body, but how 
does that prove the murder was committed by Rubina? Why was her husband or 
any other members of the family not questioned? Even the most important 
witness, the driver of the carriage (Tangay wala) was not testified which 
shows that the case of the prosecution is doubtful and wrong and Rubina 
deserves all the benefits of the doubt the letter said.

It said that Ms Rubina was sentenced to death (hanged till death) and a fine 
of Rs one hundred thousand or in default of payment of fine to undergo 10 
years RI, but nobody even the concern court took any notice of the murder of 
two innocent children(pregnancies of Rubina and Shamma) only because the two 
prisoners belonged to very poor families.

Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International said that it believed in Justice 
without discrimination, and it had no other intentions what so ever than to 
provide justice therefore to please Almighty God. "We are only trying to get 
justice and save the life of a poor lady, going to be hanged soon in the 
Multan Women Jail, only because she was unable to defend herself as she 
belonged to a very poor family" it added.

Ansar Burney said we do believe that criminals should be punished according 
to the law of the land but we can't see innocents to be hanged.

It said, "the case was a simple case of dark and suspicious murder of one 
Mst Aziz Begum (70) without any evidence against Rubina. The Anti Terrorists 
court or any other special court had no jurisdiction to trial the case. But 
due to the poverty, she failed to challenge her trial or defend herself in 
the court, which does not have the trial jurisdiction".

The Organization termed the sentence as" a case of human rights in which a 
precious life of a poor and innocent lady is involved and Anti terrorism 
court of Sargodha has wrongly convicted Ms Rubina of capital punishment".

"Rubina has been sentenced only on the doubt, surmise, supposition and on 
circumstantial evidence, as there is no direct evidence or eye witness 
available on record against the above prisoner of circumstances, to justify 
her conviction of capital punishment" it added.

"That there are sufficient material discrepancies in the evidence on record, 
produced by the prosecution and as such Ms Rubina deserves acquittal in this 
case" it said.

"We can say that due to unknown reason and influence, the Police of 
Sargodha, Punjab submitted the challan in the Terrorist Court from where the 
injustice and bad luck of Rubina started. The Anti Terrorist court Sargodha, 
without having any legal jurisdiction on unknown reasons had started trial 
and without finding the truth and without going through the evidences 
punished Ms Rubina to be hanged till death" the letter said.

" Rubina had already suffered a lot during the police investigations. First 
her cruel husband divorced her leaving Rubina and her 7 year daughter Baby 
Mubina alone. Ms Rubina and her sister Shamma were 5/6 months pregnant at 
the time of their arrest in the alleged murder. They both suffered brutality 
and severe torture after they were detained by the Sargodha Police, as a 
consequence both Rubina and her sister Shamma had miscarriage but no case of 
murder was registered against Police and others responsible" it added.

The letter said that no Law or Constitution is above the humanity and human 
rights. All Constitutions and Laws are meant for the betterment of Humanity, 
Human Rights and Justice without discrimination. This special case is a case 
of Human Rights and a matter of a precious life.










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