An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday acquitted a woman accused of attacking her former husband with acid in Sherakot.
Judge Irfan Haider announced the verdict, ruling that the prosecution had failed to prove charges against the accused, Sadaf Bibi.
The complainant’s side claimed that the woman had disguised herself as a beggar before carrying out the attack, which left Sajid Khan with burn injuries to his neck, ear, and back.
However, after reviewing evidence, the court acquitted the accused of all charges.
Sherakot police had registered a case against Sadaf Bibi in 2021. She was accused of throwing acid on her ex-husband, Sajid Khan, allegedly in revenge after he divorced her and remarried.
Separately, a sessions court rejected the bail application of YouTuber Saad-ur-Rehman, popularly known as Ducky Bhai, in a case related to the promotion of gambling applications.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Dr Sajida Chaudhry announced the reserved verdict. The court had reserved the verdict on completion of arguments by the prosecution and defence, earlier in the day.
During the proceedings, the prosecutor opposed the bail plea, contending that substantial evidence existed against the accused. He informed the court that the inquiry was initiated on the basis of a credible source report which highlighted Ducky Bhai’s alleged involvement in promoting unlicensed gambling and forex apps. The prosecutor further argued that the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) had never registered such platforms, yet the YouTuber allegedly encouraged the public to invest in them through his videos.
The court was also informed that investigators had traced Rs160 million in one of the accused’s accounts and Rs50 million in another, for which no satisfactory explanation was provided. The prosecutor urged the court to dismiss the bail plea.
Conversely, the defence counsel maintained that no witness had been presented, no notice had been issued to the accused, and no gambling application was recovered from him. He argued that the inquiry began on June 30, the arrest was made on August 13, while the FIR was lodged on August 17-reflecting procedural flaws. He further contended that Section 37 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) was misapplied, pointing out that if the apps were indeed unlawful, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) should have blocked them.
The defence pleaded that his client be given the benefit of bail, but the court dismissed the request.
It is worth mentioning that on September 23, a Judicial Magistrate had also dismissed Ducky Bhai’s bail plea in the same case.
The National Cyber Investigation Agency registered the case against the YouTuber on August 17 under various provisions of the Electronic Crimes Act, including electronic forgery, fraud, spamming, and spoofing, as well as Sections 294-B and 420 of the Pakistan Penal Code.