JKLF Chief Yasin Malik Offers to Accept Death Penalty in 1990 Murder Case, Announces Divorce
Srinagar: In a dramatic shift in legal strategy, incarcerated JKLF leader Yasin Malik has declared that he will no longer contest the trial regarding the 1990 murder of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat. In a 25-page affidavit submitted to the Additional Sessions Court in Srinagar, Malik stated he is prepared to face the gallows, while simultaneously announcing the end of his 16-year marriage to his Pakistani wife, Mushaal Hussein Mullick.
A Surprising Legal Stance
Malik, who has been held in Tihar Jail since 2019, filed the written statement through his legal counsel, Abu Adil Pandit, on Wednesday. In the document, the separatist leader signaled his intent to abandon his defense in the decades-old murder case.
“I will no longer contest the trial, and the death penalty may be considered for me,” Malik wrote. While he stated he would not fight the proceedings, he clarified that this decision should not be viewed as a formal admission of guilt. He maintained that he had been “falsely implicated due to political circumstances” and claimed to have reached the decision after performing Istikhara, a traditional Islamic prayer for divine guidance.
The court has scheduled the next hearing for September 19. This development follows a similar pattern from May 2022, when Malik refused to contest terror-funding charges in a Delhi NIA court, leading to his current life imprisonment sentence.
Personal Life: End of a 16-Year Marriage
Beyond the legal proceedings, the affidavit contained a personal announcement regarding his marriage to Mushaal Hussein Mullick, an activist and former advisor in Pakistan’s caretaker government.
Expressing deep anguish, Malik stated that he no longer wants his wife to live under the shadow of his legal troubles. “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,” he wrote. The couple married in 2009 and shares a 13-year-old daughter, Razia Sultana.
Malik noted that the decision was precipitated by the isolation of his incarceration, during which he has been unable to maintain contact with his family for the past eight years.
The Case of Sarla Bhat
The murder of Sarla Bhat, a staff nurse at the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), remains one of the most haunting episodes of the early 1990s militancy in Kashmir. Her abduction and subsequent killing created a climate of terror that accelerated the exodus of the Kashmiri Pandit community.
The case remained dormant for over three decades until the State Investigation Agency (SIA) reopened it in 2025. Following extensive raids, the SIA filed a chargesheet naming Malik and four others. With his co-accused either deceased or at large, Malik remains the primary living figure facing trial in connection with the case.
As the legal proceedings continue, the Jailed JKLF leader’s unexpected pivot marks a significant moment in the long-running judicial scrutiny of his actions during the valley’s most turbulent years.
