Lahore,
An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Monday sentenced six accused to capital punishment for their involvement in the lynching of the Sri Lankan factory manager Priyantha Kumara.
89 men have been indicted in the murder case of Priyantha, of which nine are minors. Among these, the court has awarded life imprisonment to seven, while 76 convicts have been awarded two years of jail time.
Earlier a year back, a brutal mob beat to death and set alight Priyantha Kumara, a 48-year-old Sri Lankan citizen and factory manager in Punjab’s city of Sialkot. The then prime minister Imran Khan had condemned the vigilante violence and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.
The anti-terrorism court completed the trial of the case in Kot Lakhpat Jail. Both the prosecution and the defense had concluded their arguments that was heard on a daily basis. The statements of the investigation officers and eyewitnesses had also been recorded.
During the trial, the case presided over by judge Natasha Naseem, the prosecution had brought to court 46 eyewitnesses. Furthermore, the CCTV footage of 10 cameras submitted as evidence which was installed at the site of the murder, as well as videos taken from the mobile phones of 55 accused men.
The investigation and trial were completed by a five-member team headed by public prosecutor Abdul Rauf Wattoo.
