Pakistan court hands death penalty to woman on blasphemy charges

Islamabad [Pakistan], January 20 : A Pakistan sessions court in Rawalpindi recently handed the death penalty to a Muslim woman on charges of blasphemy.
The sessions court has also awarded the woman named Aneeqa Ateeq 20 years imprisonment besides imposing a fine of Rs 150,000 as the accused failed to prove her innocence. The accused was convicted under section 295-C PPC and sentenced to death and a fine of Rs 50000. She is to be hanged by her neck till she is dead," ruled Additional District & Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Adnan Mushtaq in his verdict, according to the Nation.
Further, the judge said the accused is also convicted under section 295-A of PPC and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment along with fine of Rs 50000. In case of default in payment of fine the convict shall undergo imprisonment of six months, as mentioned by the Nation.
Meanwhile, the accused has been further convicted under section 298-A of PPC and sentenced to 3 years rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 50000 and she will serve more than six months behind the bars in case of nonpayment of fine.
Ateeq was also convicted under section 11 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 and sentenced to 7 years of rigorous imprisonment with fine of Rs 50000.
The woman's counsel had argued that the suspect was of unsound mind at the time of occurrence, and the magistrate concerned had ordered a mental examination of the suspect which remained pending without any fault on the part of the suspect.
A state prosecutor submitted before the court that the prosecution proved its case on the basis of oral and documentary evidence, as reported by Nation.