Pakistani Woman jailed for Acid Attack on Ex-Husband

A Pakistani woman has been jailed for 14 years for an acid attack on her ex-husband after he refused to remarry her.

She was also ordered to pay a Rs. 1 million (£3,000) fine to the state. Failing to pay the fine will result in an additional six months.

The woman was identified as Shabana Kausar, a resident of Karachi.

She carried out the attack on August 20, 2021.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Zabiha Khattak announced the verdict after recording evidence and final arguments from both sides.

The judge stated that the prosecution had successfully proved its case against Kausar.

State prosecutor Hina Naz said that Muhammad Usman’s statement was recorded on August 20, 2021, at the burns ward in Civil Hospital Karachi, where he was undergoing treatment.

Muhammad later recovered and told the court that his marriage to Kausar was solemnised on December 12, 2019.

But on the same day, the accused’s brother Hamid and sister Yasmeen revealed that Kausar had been married twice.

Muhammad also explained that he discovered that his wife continued meeting her ex-husband Atif. Due to this, he divorced her on October 22, 2020.

After their divorce, Kausar continued to contact Muhammad, demanding that he remarry her or she would take her own life.

On her insistence, Muhammad arranged a rented house for his ex-wife.

He went to meet her and assured her that he would remarry her after speaking to his parents.

Ms Naz told the court that on the day of the acid attack, Muhammad went to his ex-wife’s apartment. She asked him to stay with her but he refused.

Out of anger, she brought a container of acid and threw it on Muhammad, causing him burns.

After undergoing treatment, Muhammad lodged a complaint. A case was registered under Sections 336 and 336-B of the Pakistani Penal Code.

In her statement, Kausar denied the allegations and claimed that witnesses of the prosecution had made false claims against her as they were Muhammad’s relatives.

Shabana Kausar was found guilty of throwing acid at her ex-husband.

She was sentenced to 14 years in prison and fined Rs. 1 million.

Since she had been remanded in custody in the lead-up to her trial, the judge said that time would count towards her sentence.

The judge remanded Kausar back into custody.

However, the court extended the benefit of Section 382-B (period of detention to be considered while awarding sentence of imprisonment) of the criminal procedure code.