Yasin Malik withdraws from Sarla Bhat murder trial and requests divorce from Pakistani wife

In a 25‑page submission before the Additional Sessions Court (TADA/POTA) in Srinagar, Malik declared that he will no longer contest the trial in the 1990 murder of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat, even requesting capital punishment—while simultaneously announcing his decision to dissolve his marriage with Pakistani wife Mushaal Hussein Mullick

New Delhi: Separatist leader and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik, who is currently lodged in the 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, who has been lodged in Tihar since 2019, has also announced his decision to divorce his Pakistani wife, artist and activist Mushaal Hussein Mullick.Malik submitted a 25-page written statement before the Additional Sessions Court in Srinagar on Wednesday through his lawyer, Abu Adil Pandit. The court has scheduled the next hearing for September 19, according to an NDTV report.In his statement, Malik said he would no longer challenge the proceedings in the Sarla Bhat murder case. However, he clarified that his decision to withdraw from the trial should not be construed as an admission of guilt."I will no longer contest the trial and the death penalty may be considered for me," Malik told the court.Denies allegationsHe claimed that he had been falsely implicated due to political circumstances, but said he arrived at the decision after careful deliberation and performing ‘Istikhara’, an Islamic prayer traditionally offered before making an important decision.Who was Sarla Bhat?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, at the height of militancy in the Valley. Her body was recovered days later.Key Eyewitness Identifies Yasin Malik As Main Shooter In 1990 IAF KillingsHer killing deepened fear and insecurity among the Kashmiri Pandit community, while the case remained unresolved for more than three decades.The State Investigation Agency (SIA) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police reopened the case in 2025 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 remains at large, while Sofi, Sheikh and Taploo are dead, leaving Malik as the key surviving accused in the case.In the same affidavit, Malik announced his decision to end his 16-year marriage to Mushaal Hussein Mullick. The couple married in 2009 and have a 13-year-old daughter, Razia Sultana.Malik's latest statement comes more than four years after he was convicted in a separate terror-funding case. In May 2022, a special NIA court in Delhi convicted him after he declined to contest the charges and subsequently sentenced him to life imprisonment.The National Investigation Agency has since sought an enhancement of his life sentence to the death penalty.