Jammu:
In a stunning twist from Tihar, separatist leader and jailed chief of the banned terror outfit, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Yasin Malik, has offered himself for the gallows in the 1990 Sarla Bhat murder case, declaring he will not defend the trial even as he announced divorce from his Pakistani wife Mushaal Hussein Mullick.
Lodged in Tihar since 2019, Malik filed a 25-page written statement before the Additional Sessions Court, Srinagar on Wednesday through his lawyer Abu Adil Pandit. The court has listed the matter for next hearing on September 19.
In his statement, Malik said he no longer wishes to challenge the proceedings in the Kashmiri Pandit nurse, Sarla Bhat, murder case. He, however, clarified that his withdrawal should not be construed as an admission of guilt.
He claimed he has been falsely implicated due to political circumstances but has taken the decision after much deliberation and after performing ‘Istikhara’ – an Islamic prayer offered before taking an important decision.
“I will no longer contest the trial and the death penalty may be considered for me,” Malik told the court.
It is not the first time Malik has taken such a stand. In May 2022, when the special NIA court in Delhi convicted him in a terror-funding case, he had refused to contest the charges and was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment. The NIA has since been seeking enhancement of his life term to death sentence.
In the same affidavit, Malik announced his decision to end his 16-year marriage with Pakistani artist and activist Mushaal Hussein Mullick. The two married in 2009 and have a 13-year-old daughter, Razia Sultana.
Mushaal had served as special advisor on human rights and women empowerment in Pakistan’s caretaker government from 2023 to 2025.
Malik wrote that for the last eight years he has not been allowed to speak to his wife on phone or see her on video call in jail, nor contact his family. In an emotional note to Mushaal, he wrote: “I have taken this decision with great pain. I don’t want Mushaal to live her whole life carrying the burden of this situation or living like a widow. I want her to start a new chapter of her life with dignity and hope.”
For his daughter, Malik left an emotional appeal. He asked Razia to take care of her grandmother – his mother – and to speak to her for at least five minutes every day so that she feels the family’s support in this difficult time. He also expressed regret for staying away from the family and not being able to spend time with them.
Sarla Bhat, a Kashmiri Pandit staff nurse at Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Srinagar, was abducted in April 1990 at the peak of militancy in the valley. Her body was recovered days later. Her killing deepened fear and insecurity among the Pandit community and the case remained cold for over three decades.
In 2025, the State Investigation Agency (SIA) of the state police reopened the case and conducted raids at locations linked to Malik and others. The chargesheet named Malik, Khurshid Ahmed Chalku, Abdul Hameed Sheikh, Mohammad Yusuf Sofi and Ghulam Mohammad Taploo.
Chalku is still on the run while Sofi, Sheikh and Taploo are dead, leaving Malik as the key living accused. Currently serving a life term in Tihar, Malik is also facing trial in a separate murder case in Jammu.
