SHERAZ BUTT YEARS ON DEATH ROW: 7 MENTAL ILLNESS: SCHIZOPHRENIA IMPRISONED AT: HOSPITAL CELL, CENTRAL JAIL, LAHORE LATEST DEVELOPMENT Criminal Appeal currently pending before the Supreme Court CASE TIMELINE 2008 29th Jan: Alleged offence takes place 2012 20th Feb: Trial Court sentences Sheraz to death under Section 302(b) of the Pakistan Penal Code 2013 9th Oct: Consultant from Services Hospital visits Sheraz and reports abnormal behaviour, auditory hallucinations, delusions and irrelevant speech 2014 29th Jan: Central Jail Hospital prescribes anti-psychotic medication Resperidone 2016 20th Jun: Lahore High Court dismisses subsequent appeal Aug: Appeal filed in Supreme Court 19th Nov: Central Jail, Lahore conducts another medical test on Sheraz, which reports hallucinations, irrelevant talk, sleep deprivation and poor self-care ability Sheraz Butt was sentenced to death in 2012 for fatally stabbing his mother four years earlier at his residence in Lahore. Signs of his mental illness were apparent long before the incident occurred, but he was first diagnosed with schizophrenia by jail authorities in 2016. Despite multiple medical examinations confirming Sheraz’s mental illness over the years, he continues to remain on death row. He is currently incarcerated in Central Jail, Lahore. BACKGROUND Sheraz Butt was sentenced to death in 2012 for fatally stabbing his mother at his residence in Lahore in 2008. Though he was diagnosed with schizophrenia much later, signs of his mental illness were apparent earlier. Sheraz had attempted another knife attack on his parents a week before the incident. His parents had reported it to the police and had also referred him to the Pakistan Institute of Mental Health (PIMH) but he had refused to take any medications. Sheraz repeatedly claimed that a “junoon” had taken over him that had led him to commit the crime. He has spent seven years on death row even though multiple medical tests have confirmed him to be suffering from acute mental illness. According to Sheraz’s medical records from his treatment at the psychiatric cell at the Jail Hospital, he has been visited seven times by the psychiatrists from Punjab Institute of Mental Health (PIMH). This series of medical diagnosis and examinations carried out between the years 2013 and 2017 consistently points to Sheraz’s mental health as a classical representation of a patient suffering from ‘Schizophrenia”. Despite his mental condition, the Lahore High Court turned down his criminal appeal in 2016 and upheld his death sentence. His subsequent appeal is currently pending before the Supreme Court. Sheraz is a severely mentally ill man who belongs in a mental health facility, not strung up on the gallows in violation of Pakistani and international laws. SHERAZ’S MENTAL ILLNESS Dismal detention conditions and strong anti-psychotic medications have gravely affected Sheraz’s condition. He continues to experience auditory and visual hallucinations, has lost orientation of time and space, and often speaks about himself in third person. He also says he hears voices that give him information about his family members.