Sakina Ramzan returned to the normal world from Women’s Prison and Correctional Facility, a part of the Karachi Central Jail after at least six years. She has been released on January 14, 2021, after the three-member bench of the Supreme Court declared her acquittal.
Sakina was given a life sentence for carrying narcotics from Quetta to Karachi under Section 6 of the Control of Narcotics Substance Act 1977. The section declares the act of delivery and transportation of narcotics as a criminal offense while prescribing punishments with regards to the recovered quantities.
Notably, the knowledge of (implying deliberation) any such act holds significance in the applicability of Section 6—something Sakina’s account does not match with. She has maintained that she did not know the drugs accompanied the electronic items she was carrying for her employer. However, Sakina has not been acquitted on this argument. Her acquittal owes it to the irregularities in the prosecution, primarily the chain of custody.
The prosecution has to prove responsibility beyond a reasonable doubt. Moreover, it has to establish the integrity and safety of chain of custody—starting from drugs’ recovery to their dispatch to the laboratory. In Sakina’s case, inconsistencies appeared in the witness testimonies that made the quantity of the recovered drugs as well as the whole chain questionable.
Sakina was convicted six years ago in a crime whose perpetrators still roamed freely. This entire case is an indictment of the legal system that offers no solace to the underprivileged (a majority of the population). The lady is not getting any reward for her acquittal nor any compensation for six-year incarceration. Many Sakina’s in this country fall to this predicament without any guidance or representation. They are served harsh punishments for the crime they have no knowledge of committing. The system does not offer the benefit of the doubt, as is the case with Sakina. The taxi driver commuting her did afford acquittal by the trial court. There is no provision in the law for a rehabilitation program for people like Sakina. They have to live with the stigma and anxiety for the rest of their life—if they are lucky enough to be acquitted in the first place.
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