Mehar Triple Murder: SHC grants appeal hearing in Karachi

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday approved plea for hearing the appeal against the Mehar triple murder case verdict in Karachi.

“Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court has granted the plea owing to the security reasons,” petitioner Umme Rubab Chandio said. “Our appeal will now be heard in Karachi, this case has become the case of all oppressed people of Sindh,” Umme Rubab Chandio said.

Petitioner Umme Rubab earlier arrived in the high court accompanied with Salahuddin Panhwar Advocate for filing the appeal against the lower court’s verdict in triple murder of her family members.

A model court in Dadu on March 30 announced its verdict in the high-profile Mehar triple murder case, acquitting all eight accused allegedly involved in the killing of Umme Rubab Chandio’s father, grandfather and uncle.

The gruesome incident took place in Mehar, Sindh, on January 17, 2018, when armed men attacked a house and killed three men of the family. Those killed included Raees Karamullah Chandio, then chairman of the Baldia Union Council in Mehar taluka, along with his two sons — Mukhtiar Chandio, a member of the district council, and another son who was associated with the Tumandar Council.

Among those acquitted were Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leaders Sardar Ahmed Chandio and his brother Burhan Khan Chandio, along with former SHO Karim Chandio, Sattar Chandio, Ali Gohar Chandio, Murtaza Chandio, Sikandar Chandio and Zulfiqar Chandio.

According to the family, the attack was allegedly carried out on the behest of Sardar Ahmed Chandio, a tribal chieftain in Mehar, and his younger brother Burhan Chandio, who was serving as an aide to the Sindh chief minister at the time.

Umme Rubab Chandio had been pursuing the case of her slain family members on her own, despite reportedly receiving death threats.

The case gained nationwide attention in 2021 when a video of a barefoot Umme Rubab walking out of a courtroom went viral on social media. Speaking to ARY News at the time, she accused the Sindh government of protecting those responsible for the killings.