India's Supreme Court on Monday freed on bail an 80-year-old Pakistani doctor sentenced to life for a 1992 murder, a relative said. Virologist Khalil Chishti, who suffers from poor health and cannot walk unaided, was released from prison on compassionate grounds but would not be allowed to leave the northern town of Ajmer.
He was sentenced to life last year for the murder of a relative during a family dispute, while visiting his ailing mother in Ajmer in 1992. He has repeatedly denied the charge, but an appeal to the regional high court was unsuccessful. Chishti then applied to the Supreme Court for bail on grounds of poor health and advancing age, with doctors saying he has heart ailments and is wheelchair-bound.
Human rights activists have also asked that the octogenarian be allowed to return to his family in Karachi. The issue has received widespread media attention, and was raised by President Asif Ali Zardari during his lunch meeting with Indian Premier Manmohan Singh on Sunday, reports said.
"The family has made tireless efforts for his release but apparently President Zardari's intervention has given this relief," Chishti's younger brother Jamil told reporters. "Such humanitarian gestures are important for improving relations between the two neighbouring countries," he said.