Perween Rahman's work
Perween Rahman was an architect, planner and long-time leader of the Orangi Pilot Project Research and Training Institute. Her work focused on housing, sanitation, land mapping and services for lower-income communities in Karachi. Colleagues and later court reporting described land grabbing as a major source of pressure around the work she was doing.
The killing
On March 13, 2013, Rahman was shot while traveling home from work near Manghopir Road in Karachi. She died that day. Early investigation and later litigation generated competing theories about who ordered the killing and why.
The existence of those theories does not make them proven fact. This page uses the later court record to distinguish what was alleged by investigators or witnesses from what remained legally established after appeal.
Investigation and trial
After a prolonged investigation, an antiterrorism court convicted five men in December 2021. Rahim Swati, Amjad Hussain Khan, Ayaz Ali and Ahmed Khan received life sentences, while Imran Swati received seven years. The trial court accepted a prosecution theory connecting the killing to efforts to seize land associated with the Orangi Pilot Project.
The case had already attracted concern over how evidence was gathered, including the use of a confession recorded by police and disputes over whether a television interview could be treated as additional evidence. Those questions became central on appeal.
The Sindh High Court acquittals
On November 21, 2022, the Sindh High Court overturned the convictions of all five men and acquitted them. The court held that the case did not fall under Pakistan's anti-terrorism law and found no adequate evidence that the appellants had conspired to murder Rahman.
The High Court also ruled that a confession attributed to Rahim Swati before a police officer was not admissible as a normal criminal confession once the terrorism-law framework was removed. It further noted weaknesses in the prosecution's effort to connect the accused to the killing.
The judgment referred to evidence suggesting that a firearm linked to the murder was associated with another individual identified as Qari Bilal. The court's criticism that investigators had failed to pursue that line does not make Qari Bilal a judicially established killer, and this archive does not describe him as one.
Supreme Court challenge
In December 2022, Rahman's sister Aquila Ismail challenged the acquittal of principal accused Rahim Swati before Pakistan's Supreme Court. The petition argued that the High Court had misread or failed to consider important evidence.
For this update, no reliable later merits judgment was located that reversed the Sindh High Court acquittal or replaced it with a new murder conviction. That means the correct current description is not “five convicted killers.” The trial convictions existed, but they were set aside.
Timeline
March 13, 2013: Perween Rahman is shot dead in Karachi while traveling home from the Orangi Pilot Project.
December 2021: an antiterrorism court convicts five men and imposes life and prison sentences.
November 21, 2022: the Sindh High Court overturns all five convictions and acquits the appellants.
December 6, 2022: Rahman's family files a Supreme Court appeal challenging the acquittal of Rahim Swati.
August 27, 2026: no later verified merits judgment located for this update has restored a murder conviction.
Current status
The murder itself is undisputed, but the people convicted at trial were acquitted on appeal. Because no later verified merits judgment has re-established criminal responsibility, the case is classified as Unsolved / Judicially Unresolved. Allegations about land networks, political influence or particular individuals are identified as allegations unless supported by a conviction.