Agencies | New Delhi:
Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik, who is currently lodged in Tihar Jail, has told a Srinagar court that he no longer wishes to contest the trial in the 1990 murder case of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat and is willing to face the death penalty.
Malik also announced his decision to separate from his Pakistani wife, artist and activist Mushaal Hussein Mullick, in a 25-page written statement submitted before the Additional Sessions Court in Srinagar on Wednesday through his lawyer, Abu Adil Pandit.
The court has scheduled the next hearing in the case for September 19.
In his statement, Malik said he had decided to stop contesting the proceedings in the Sarla Bhat murder case and indicated that the death penalty could be considered for him. However, he maintained that his decision should not be construed as an admission of guilt.
Malik also claimed that he had been falsely implicated in the case due to political circumstances. He said the decision to withdraw from the trial was taken after careful consideration and after performing Istikhara, an Islamic prayer traditionally offered before making an important decision.
Sarla Bhat was a Kashmiri Pandit staff nurse at the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in Srinagar. She was abducted in April 1990, during the height of militancy in Kashmir, and her body was recovered several days later.
The State Investigation Agency (SIA) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police reopened the case in 2025 and conducted searches at locations linked to Malik and other accused persons.
The chargesheet names Yasin Malik, Khurshid Ahmed Chalku, Abdul Hameed Sheikh, Mohammad Yusuf Sofi and Ghulam Mohammad Taploo.
Chalku remains absconding, while Sheikh, Sofi and Taploo have died, leaving Malik as the principal surviving accused named in the case.
In the same statement, Malik announced his decision to end his marriage to Mushaal Hussein Mullick. The couple married in 2009 and have a daughter, Razia Sultana, who is 13.
Addressing his wife and daughter, Malik referred to the prolonged separation caused by his incarceration and said he did not want his wife to spend the rest of her life carrying the burden of his circumstances.
He expressed affection for both his wife and daughter and said he wanted them to begin a new chapter of their lives with dignity and hope.
Malik has been lodged in Tihar Jail since 2019.
Malik’s latest statement comes more than four years after his conviction in a separate terror-funding case.
In May 2022, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Delhi convicted Malik after he declined to contest the charges. He was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment.
The NIA has challenged the sentence before the Delhi High Court and sought its enhancement to the death penalty. (Inputs from different agencies)
