A woman from Lahore has been sentenced to death by a sessions court after claiming to be a prophet, Wajid Ahmad Sheikh reported for Dawn. She has been charged under section 295C of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The court has also fined the convict with Rs50,000.
“It is proved beyond reasonable doubt that accused Salma Tanveer wrote and distributed the writings which are derogatory in respect of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and she failed to prove that her case falls in exception provided by section 84 of PPC,” ruled Additional District & Sessions Judge Mansoor Ahmad Qureshi in his 22-page verdict.
Section 84 deals with crimes committed by those who are mental.
A case against Salma Tanveer was registered at Nisthar Colony Police Station in 2013.
The court record shows that the FIR was lodged by the prayer leader (Khateeb) of Jamia Masjid Anwar-e-Madina in Bahadurabad neighbourhood of Lahore. The prayer leader, Qari Iftikhar Ahmad Raza, alleged that Salma Tanveer, principal of a local school, had published and distributed pamphlets in the area “whereby she denied khatam-e-nubuwat of the Holy Prophet (PBUH)”.
The FIR alleged that the woman had used derogatory remarks and claimed “her own nubuwat”, according to the court record.
The woman’s counsel, Mian Muhammad Ramzan, had argued that the suspect was of unsound mind at the time of occurrence. He said the magistrate concerned had ordered mental examination of the suspect, which remained pending without any fault on the part of the suspect.
The defence counsel further argued that the comparison of writing from photocopies was not possible as tampering had been made in the photocopies of the alleged documents.
A report by the Punjab Institute of Mental Health (PIMH) declared Salma Tanveer fit to stand trial.
“The question, however, that arises for consideration is whether in law such abnormality can be treated as sufficient to exculpate the accused for the serious crime committed by her, even though it falls short of legal insanity,” held the judge.
The judge ruled that the law in the country did not recognise such lesser forms of mental abnormality and the plea of diminished responsibility was not available as a defence in a criminal prosecution.
