Supreme Court acquits 3 men in 2014 case of burning Christian couple alive in Kasur

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has acquitted three men who were sentenced to death for their alleged involvement in the 2014 killing of a Christian couple at a brick kiln in Kot Radha Kishan, Kasur.

The court overturned their death sentences after finding that the prosecution had failed to establish their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

A three-member bench headed by Justice Shahzad Ahmad Khan, along with Justices Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi and Shakeel Ahmed, heard the appeals challenging the Lahore High Court’s 2019 decision. The three men had originally been sentenced to death by an Anti-Terrorism Court in November 2016.

The case involved a mob attack on Nov 4, 2014, when a crowd reportedly attacked the Christian couple after they were accused of blasphemy.

The victims, who worked as bonded labourers at a brick kiln, were allegedly tortured and thrown into the kiln’s furnace, where they were burned to death. The Supreme Court described the incident as shocking and brutal.

However, the court identified several weaknesses and contradictions in the prosecution’s evidence. It noted that none of the victims’ relatives had lodged the complaint or signed case documents as witnesses. The court also questioned why the name of one of the acquitted men, who was allegedly identified as the person who threw the couple into the furnace, was missing from the FIR.

The judgement further pointed to a lack of independent evidence supporting the allegations. The court noted that the three men had no burn injuries and were not found wearing the protective footwear or wet clothing reportedly needed to approach the furnace, creating reasonable doubt about their involvement.

Emphasising that the benefit of doubt is a legal right rather than a concession, the Supreme Court ordered the immediate release of the three men unless they were required in another case. It also rejected the state’s appeal against the acquittal of 102 other accused, finding no material illegality or misreading of evidence in the lower courts’ decisions.