Lahore: (RightNow) The Lahore High Court has ruled that parents are exempt from Qisas (retribution) in cases of child murder but will not be acquitted from punishment. This decision was announced in response to an appeal by the accused, Shagufta Parveen.

The court stated that even without Qisas, punitive punishment can be imposed for murder. The accused was initially sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of two children, which has now been reduced to 10 years.

In 2022, the bodies of two children were found at the accused’s home in Hafizabad. The trial court sentenced her to life imprisonment in 2024, a sentence that remains upheld.

The court did not recognize marital disputes and mental stress as legal mental incapacity. Compensation to the children’s heirs and a six-month sentence for attempted suicide are also upheld.

It is noteworthy that the court reduced the mother’s life sentences to 10 years each, while other penalties remain unchanged.