Barkat Masih gets the death penalty and a Rs50,000 fine; son-in-law Yaqoob Masih is jailed for two years. The sentence now goes to the Lahore High Court for confirmation.
LAHORE: An Additional Sessions Judge in Lahore has sentenced a man to death for honour-related murdering his daughter. Judge Afzal Ahmad Saqib found Barkat Masih guilty and also fined him Rs50,000.
His son-in-law, Yaqoob Masih, a co-accused in the case, was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison and a Rs20,000 fine. The court examined 13 witnesses before delivering its verdict after hearing arguments from both sides.
According to the court record, North Cantonment police submitted the challan in the case in 2025. During the trial, 13 prosecution witnesses were produced. After hearing arguments from lawyers on both sides, Additional Sessions Judge Afzal Ahmad Saqib held the charge proved against the father, Barkat Masih, and sentenced him to death along with a Rs50,000 fine.
The court convicted the co-accused, the victim’s husband Yaqoob Masih, and sentenced him to two years in prison and a fine of Rs20,000. The difference between the two sentences indicates that the son-in-law was convicted of a lesser offence than murder.
A death sentence passed by a sessions court in Pakistan cannot be carried out until it is confirmed by the High Court. The case will therefore be sent to the Lahore High Court as a murder reference, and both convicts may file appeals. Death sentences are frequently modified at this stage, and the process routinely takes years.
The court record states the young woman was killed by Barkat Masih and Yaqoob Masih under the pretext of defending family “honour”. The case does fall within a pattern that rights groups have documented for years such as women killed by members of their own families. Among the 7,071 gender-based violence cases it recorded nationally in 2025, the child and women’s rights group Sahil counted 1,546 murders and 284 so-called honour killings, with 78 percent of all cases reported from Punjab. Convictions in such cases have historically been rare, often because families pardon the killer. A conviction secured after a full trial, with 13 witnesses, is less common than it should be.
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