F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court of Pakistan has set the January 23 for the hearing of Khadija Siddiqui, a student of law and stabbing survivor on January 23 case.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Asif Saeed Khosa will head a three-member bench of the Supreme Court and it will hear the case on Wednesday.
Khadija, who is currently studying in the United Kingdom, departed for Islamabad from Heathrow airport on Monday evening to attend the hearing.
She told media that she is hopeful as this case serves as a beacon of hope for women across Pakistan. I am glad that the newly sworn-in chief justice fixed my case for hearing. My morale was a bit down since my case had not been heard since the last suo moto hearing in June 2018.
It is pertinent to mention that Khadija who was stabbed 23 times by her classmate urged that “justice ought to be done not because she suffered but because if such a crime goes unpunished then the “hopes of all those looking up to this case will shatter.
“Thousands of cases like these go down the drain because the majority do not have resources to seek justice or are silenced before they even try. It’s not only my struggle, it’s the struggle of the whole society. I decided to take a stand for myself and for everyone else who believes in law and justice,” the law student maintained.
Khadija came to the UK in September last year to study bar-at-law and plans to return to Pakistan after finishing her studies to help victims of injustice.
“I spent a lot of time struggling to get justice in Pakistan and realized through my own experience that there is a mafia culture in Pakistan. I plan to return to Pakistan and help others gain a voice through legal assistance. We cannot allow injustice to continue permeating in the society as it is, something has to be done about it,” she stressed.
On May 3, 2016, Khadija was stabbed 23 times by Shah Hussain, her classmate on Lahore’s Davis Road. He managed to flee from the scene of the crime but was captured on a mobile camera by an eyewitness.
After the registration of a case, the accused requested a sessions court for bail before arrest, which was turned down. Hussain, whose father happens to be a renowned lawyer, was aided by a number of other lawyers to flee from court premises after his request was turned down.
In September 2016, Hussain’s lawyer once again challenged the sessions court verdict in the Lahore High Court, but the court maintained the earlier verdict.
Three days later the accused surrendered himself to police and was sent to prison. He remained behind bars for nearly two months and was subsequently released on December 1, 2016, after the sessions court granted him bail.
Khadija filed an appeal against the court’s decision, but it was dismissed.
On July 29, Lahore judicial magistrate sentenced Hussain to seven years in prison, however, on June 4, the Lahore High Court acquitted Hussain. Former chief justice Saqib Nisar took suo motu notice of the acquittal in June 2018.
