A Karachi court on Friday granted bail to a young woman and her husband after the family of their victims submitted an affidavit certifying that they had pardoned the former for running over three people on Karsaz last month.
The couple, including prime accused Natasha Danish and her husband, had been booked for manslaughter when the reckless driving of Natasha in an expensive SUV on an access road along Karsaz on the evening of August 19 caused three fatalities and multiple injuries. Natasha had plowed through three motorbikes and two cars which killed 60-year-old Imran Arif and his 22-year-old daughter Amna while injuring three others. A third victim succumbed to injuries days later in hospital.
On Friday, a sessions court heard an application filed by Natasha for bail on grounds of mental health.
An affidavit from the victim's family was also placed before the court, which stated that they had pardoned Natasha 'in the name of Allah'.
Natasha's lawyer, Advocate Amir Mansoob Qureshi, later told the media that no "compensation" had been agreed upon with the victim's family as claimed by a section of the media, adding that no such agreement under the country's Diyat and Qisas laws was mentioned in the affidavit submitted to the court.
His statements were echoed by the lawyer of the victim's family, Barrister Aziz Ghouri, who said no money had been paid to the family. He added that the family had pardoned the culprit "in the name of Allah".
"They (the family) say that they have forgiven [the culprit] because those who forgive have an exalted stature," he added.
Noting that Natasha's bail had been set at Rs100,000 and her husband Iqbal's bail had been set at Rs50,000, he said that the court had not placed any explicit travel restriction on either.
Under the influence
Sindh police had formed a special team to investigate the incident. Natasha's husband, Danish Iqbal, was named a suspect and booked during investigations. Iqbal, however, was later granted seven-day pre-arrest bail by the Sindh High Court.
The investigation team further revealed that Natasha's toxicology report found traces of banned substances in her bloodstream, which caused doctors and police to conclude that she was under the influence of narcotics (methamphetamine) at the time of the incident. As a consequence, the police registered another case against Natasha for driving while under influence and drug consumption.
Natasha will remain in police custody until the conclusion of the narcotics case. The next hearing for that case is set for Monday.