LAHORE:The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday acquitted Uzma Rao after setting aside her death sentence in Model Abeera murder case.
A two-member division bench comprising Justice Shehram Sarwar Chaudhry and Justice Muhammad Amjad Rafiq passed the orders while allowing an appeal, filed by Model Uzma Rao against the death sentence.
The defence counsel argued before the court that the trial court failed to appreciate the facts and handed down the death sentence to his client despite clear differences in the statements of the witnesses. He pleaded with the court to set aside the death sentence and acquit his client of murder charges.
However, the plaintiff’s counsel argued that the trial court handed down the death sentence in the light of the statements of witnesses. He pleaded with the court to dismiss the appeal.
The bench, after hearing detailed arguments of the parties, allowed the appeal and acquitted Uzma Rao after setting aside his death sentence.
A sessions court had handed down death sentence to Uzma after declaring her guilty in the Abeera murder case on March 13, 2018.
In 2015, the Shera Kot police had recovered the body of model Abeera from a bag found in a rickshaw at Niazi Adda. A murder case was registered on Jan 13, 2015 in which Uzma Rao, Farooqur Rehman and Hakeem Zeeshan were nominated. Two accused Rehman and Zeeshan were acquitted by the sessions court.