A court in northwestern Pakistan has handed a death sentence to a man over the killing of a medical student who had turned down his marriage proposal.
Asma Rani sustained critical wounds when she was shot in the city of Kohat in January 2018. She recorded a video statement in which she named her attacker before succumbing to her injuries.
A judge on June 25 declared the main defendant in the case, Mujahid, guilty of murder and sentenced him to death. He was also ordered to pay a fine of 300,000 million rupees ($1.9 million) and an additional 2 million rupees ($12,700) as compensation.
Mujahid's brother Saqibullah and another defendant were acquitted.
The court session was held inside Peshawar's central prison for security reasons.
Rani's family has told police that she was visiting them during a session break when she was attacked by Mujahid and Saqibullah after she turned down a marriage proposal.
Mujahid fled to the United Arab Emirates soon after the attack. He was arrested after Interpol issued red notices at the request of the Pakistani government, before being extradited to Pakistan in March 2018.
The case was transferred from Kohat to Peshawar in April 2018 on the request of Rani's family, which alleged that the accused belonged to an influential family in Kohat.
