Mock Trial Script
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The Invisible Murder
On the 12th of December (Mr. Raza) was mysteriously murdered in their
apartment. The defendant is Mohammed Virk, the victim’s neighbor. The defense
is trying to prove that the murder was actually a suicide. While, the prosecution is
trying to prove that the case is actually a murder. Multiple witnesses are called up,
each with their own knowledge helping piece together what actually happened.
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CAST
1. Judge-Mukaram Ejaz
2. Court Reporter-Fatima Sagheer
3. Prosecution Lawyer (P.L) – Mateen Gondal
4. Defense Lawyer (D.L) – Wadeea Batool
5. Defendant (neighbor and business partner) – Arsum Quddusi
6. Victim (Dead)- Mr. Raza
7. Witness 1 (Neighbor) – Abubakar Khurram
8. Witness 2 (Business Partner)- Abdullah Shaban
9. Witness 3 (colleague)- Zainab Kashif
CR(Fatima): On the 12th of December (Mr. Raza) was mysteriously murdered in his apartment
during the night. The police searched the crime scene and found Mr. Raza’s body covered in
blood and water but no clue of the murder weapon used nor who the murderer was. Mateen
Gondal will be the Prosecution Lawyer and Wadeea Batool will be the Defense Lawyer. The
defendant is Arsum Qaddusi, the victim’s neighbor and his business partner. The defense is
trying to prove that the murder was actually a suicide. While, the prosecution is trying to prove
that the case is actually a murder. Multiple witnesses are called up. Abdullah and Zainab, the
victim’s business Partner.
CR (Fatima): All rise (everyone will stand except the judge). Department 42 of the District
High court is now in session. Judge (Mukaram) is presiding. All be seated.
Judge (Mukaram): Good morning ladies and gentlemen! You may be seated. Are all parties
present?
Prosecutor (Mateen): Yes, your honor.
Defense lawyer (Wadeea): Yes, your honor.
CR (Fatima): Members of the Jury, (Arsum Quddusi) has been charged in a one count
information with the crime of murder in violation of Penal Code #187. The information
alleges that on or about December 12, 2021, in Lahore, Pakistan, the defendant, Arsum
Quddusi, did kill Mr.Raza, in violation of Penal Code #187. To this charge, Arsum Quddusi
has entered a plea of not guilty.
Judge (Mukaram): The prosecutor may proceed with the case now.
Prosecutor (Mateen): Your honor! We believe the suspect Mr. Arsum murdered his
neighbor, (Mr. RAZA), on the 12th of December 2021 at around 9:30 p.m using an unknown
weapon. According to the postmortem it seems like Mr. Raza was stabbed with a sharp
object.
*shows report to the audience and gives it to the clerk
(Clerk takes and hands the postmortem report to the judge)
(Judge spends some time flipping through it)
Now, I would like to request permission to bring the defendant to the stand and ask him a
few questions.
Judge (Mukaram): Permission granted.
(Muhammad Virk goes in front of the auditorium and clerk goes to him, both face the
audience)
CR(Fatima): Do you plead to speak the truth and nothing except the truth
(ARSUM goes to stand after taking oath)
Prosecutor (Mateen): How are you employed, Mr. Arsum?
Defendant (Arsum): I am one of the co-owners at Fauji Fertilizers.
Prosecutor (Mateen): Mr. Arsum is it true that a week before the murder, you were seen
fighting with Mr. Raza in the parking lot of the apartment building?
Defendant (Arsum): Yes, we had a small argument over some petty issue. But that doesn’t
mean that I killed him!
Prosecutor (Mateen): What were you two arguing about?
Defendant (Arsum): Mr. Raza is my next door neighbor, every day he would play loud
music at night and create a lot of disturbance for me. A night before the fight, he was playing
songs as usual but I had a very important business presentation the next morning and I
couldn’t get any sleep. I had told him multiple times to turn down the music but he refused to
listen. The next morning while I was leaving for work I
saw him enter the parking lot so I confronted him about it and he completely ignored me.
This made me very mad and so I lost control of myself and started screaming at him.
Prosecutor (Mateen): Moving on. So where you were on the night Mr. Raza was murdered
in his apartment?
Defendant (Arsum): I had a friend over at my apartment that night.
Prosecutor (Mateen): Your honor! These are the car keys found at the murder scene by the
police.
(Holds up the car key)
Would you care to explain how your car keys got there?
Defendant (Arsum): I –uh
Prosecutor (Mateen): So is it true that you weren’t with your friend that night and actually
went to Mr. Raza’s apartment to brutally murder him?
Defense lawyer (zainab): I object your honor! Such direct questions cannot be asked from
my client.
Judge (Mukaram): Objection overruled. The prosecutor may proceed.
Defendant (Arsum): I don’t know how they got there, but I had lost them a few days ago.
Prosecutor (Mateen): And you didn’t try to find them?
Defendant (Arsum): I did, but I wasn’t able to. I didn’t think of searching Raza's apartment.
Prosecutor (Mateen): So what if I tell you that you were seen leaving Mr. Raza’s apartment
the night of the murder?
Defendant (Arsum): That’s not true.
Prosecutor (Mateen): Your honor! I would like to request that, Mr. Abubakar, who is Mr.
Arsum's and Mr. Raza’s neighbor, be brought to the stand.
Judge (Mukaram): Permission Granted
CR (Fatima): (Asking for oath from witness that he will only say the truth and nothing
except the truth.)
(Witness 1 enters) (Neighbor)
Prosecutor (Mateen): How are you employed Mr. Abubakr?
Witness 1 (neighbor): I work as a teacher at Lahore School of Economics.
Prosecutor (Mateen): How long have you been living in this apartment?
Witness 1 (neighbor): I have been living here for around more than 12 years.
Prosecutor (Mateen): Mr. Abubakr, how was the relationship of Mr. Arsum with Mr. Raza?
Witness 1 (neighbor): From what I’ve seen, they were really good friends from a long time.
Prosecutor (Mateen): Will you tell us what you saw on the night of the murder.
Witness 1: I was unlocking the door to my apartment to enter when I saw Mr. Virk leaving
Mr. Raza’s apartment all shaken up. It looked like he was crying and he walked straight to
his apartment before I could ask anything. That’s all I know and saw that night.
Prosecutor (Mateen): Did you happen to see any kind of weapon in his hands?
Witness 1: No, he was empty handed.
Prosecutor (Mateen): Did you see anything that seemed amiss? Like maybe blood on his
clothes? Or any other kind of suspicious stuff?
Witness 1: I can’t seem to remember but he was holding a part of his shirt very tightly as if
he was trying to cover something.
Prosecutor (Mateen): As you’ve heard your honor, Mr. Arsum was lying about the fact that
he didn’t go to Mr. Raza’s apartment at all and clearly wasn’t clueless about his missing car
keys.
(Arsum falls and start crying)
Defendant (Arsum)- (starts crying): OKAY OKAY - I DID GO TO HIS APARTMENT.
But I didn’t visit him to kill him, instead I went to apologize for yelling and insulting him in
front of everyone that day. When I saw his dead body, I panicked. I didn’t know what to do
and definitely didn’t want to get caught in this scene so I quietly went back to my apartment.
(CR approaches to Arsum and helps him get up)
Judge (Mukaram): You’re not allowed to speak unless called for!!
Prosecutor (Mateen): HUH… Really? You honor! Mr. Arsum is making excuses now.
Defense Lawyer (Wadeea): Objection Your Honor!
Judge (Mukaram): Objection sustained.
Defense Lawyer (Wadeea): Your honor! The accusation made against my client are false.
Mr. Raza wasn’t murdered but in reality, had committed suicide alone in their apartment. I
would like to present some evidence found at the victim’s place.
Take a look at this suicide note laying on the table beside the couch he was found dead.
(Defense lawyer hands the suicide note to the judge)
In addition to this, No murder weapon could be found at the scene, thus it is not appropriate
to claim that Mr. Arsum murdered Mr. Raza. Moreover, as Mr. Abubakar said that they were
good friends and have known each other from a long time and expanded their business by
working together but Mr. Raza's
mental health was deteriorating and he was showing signs of depression and lack of
motivation at work a few days before his demise. I would like to request permission to bring
a witness to the stand.
Judge (Mukaram): Permission Granted
CR (Fatima): (asking for oath from witness that he will only say the truth and nothing
except the truth.)
(Witness 2 enters) – Abdullah shaban
Defense Lawyer (Wadeea): How are you employed Mr. Abdullah?
Business partner (Abdullah): I’m the co-owner of Fauji Fertilizers along with Mr. Arsum
and Mr. Raza but unfortunately he’s not with us anymore. (Smirks)
Defense Lawyer (Wadeea): So Mr. Abdullah how long have you known Mr. Raza?
Business partner (Abdullah): I have known Mr. Raza for the past 5 years. We’ve been
working together since the time we met five years ago.
Defense lawyer (Wadeea): Where did you meet him?
Business partner (Abdullah): We met in a business meeting and decided to work together
instead of continuing our separate businesses.
Defense lawyer (Wadeea): How was your relationship with Mr. Raza?
Business partner (Abdullah): We were on very good terms. We used to meet every day at
work and always had a great time.
Defense lawyer (Wadeea): How was the behavior of Mr. Raza recently before his death?
Business partner (Abdullah): He was a jolly person a year back but since a while, he had
not been talking to me like he used to. He mostly kept to himself and was always quiet when
we were working together.
Defense lawyer (Wadeea): So you did notice a change in his attitude towards life in general
since the past few months, right?
Business partner (Abdullah): Yes, definitely. In the back of my head, I was always afraid
of him committing suicide, because of the way he kept to himself lately and had changed.
Defense lawyer (Wadeea): Do you know of anything that might have led him to
contemplate suicide?
Business partner (Abdullah): Yes, recently our business was not doing well and I think that
might have been disturbing him.
Defense lawyer (Wadeea): So as you have heard Your Honor Mr. Raza was mentally
disturbed due to the dire state of his business and so unable to cope with the pressure decided
to commit suicide.
Judge (Mukaram): Would the prosecution like to cross examine?
Prosecutor (Mateen): No, your honor.
(Arsum's phone rings and he answers the call and gets tensed after the phone call)
Judge (Mukaram): Mr. Abdullah, it is strictly prohibited to use phones in the courtroom.
Business Partner (Abdullah): Sorry your honor, I have a family emergency at home and I
would request your permission to leave.
Judge (Mukaram): YOU MAY NOT LEAVE UNTIL THE TRIAL HAS ENDED!
Prosecutor (Mateen): What’s the hurry Mr. Abdullah?
Your Honor today in the morning the Police raided Mr. Abdullah's house and found critical
evidence that may help to prove this case.
Defense lawyer (Wadeea): Objection Your honor!
Judge (Mukaram): Objection overruled
Prosecutor (Mateen): Your honor, we believe that Mr. Abdullah is connected to the murder
of Mr. Raza and we know what the weapon used.
Defense lawyer (Wadeea): Objection Your honor!
Judge (Mukaram): Objection overruled! Let the prosecution proceed.
Prosecutor (Mateen): Your honor! Mr. Arsum used ice as a murder weapon and killed Mr.
Raza
Defense lawyer (Wadeea): Huh… Are you serious? Is this a court or a comedy show?
Prosecutor (Mateen): You all must be thinking how he used ice as a murder weapon? Well
according to Forensic Department, the weapon used to murder Mr. Raza was a sharp pointy
object. Today Police found the same shaped ice trays from Mr. Vicky’s house and confirmed
that the ice used was of same dimensions as the wound on victim’s body.
(Shows the ice tray and forensic report)
Judge (Mukaram): Does the defense have anything to say?
Defense lawyer (Wadeea): Your honor, Ice trays like these are commonly used for making
ice creams at home and are available everywhere. It does not make any sense to say that a
piece of ice was used as a murder weapon. Mr. Mateen has nothing else to say so he’s
making pointless arguments just to strengthen his case.
Prosecutor (Mateen): Objection your honor!
Judge (Mukaram): Objection sustained.
Prosecutor (Mateen): Your Honor I would like to call Mr. Abdullah to the stand for further
questioning.
CR (Fatima): asking for oath from witness that he will only say the truth and nothing except
the truth.
Prosecutor (Mateen): Mr. Abdullah where were you the night Mr. Bablu was murdered?
Business partner (Abdullah): I was at our office as usual. I like working till late at night.
Prosecutor (Mateen): Are you sure about that?
Business partner (Abdullah): Yes, very sure..
Prosecutor(Mateen): Your honor, now I would like to request permission to call another
witness to the stand.
Judge (Mukaram): Permission Granted.
(Witness 4 enters) – Zainab (Office Colleague)
CR(Fatima): asking for oath from witness that he will only say the truth and nothing except the
truth.
Prosecutor (Mateen): He is one of the colleagues of Mr. Raza and Mr. Abdullah
So, is it true that Mr. Abdullah was at his office on the night of 12th December?
Colleague (Zainab): No, he left early that night and didn’t stay back like he used to.
Defense lawyer (Wadeea): I object, your honor!
Judge (Mukaram): Objection overruled!
Colleague (Zainab): We had a very important business meeting that night but we had cancelled
it due to the fact that Mr. Abdullah had an emergency and had to leave.
Defense Lawyer (Wadeea): Objection You Honor!
Judge (Mukaram): Objection sustained
Defense Lawyer (Wadeea): Your honor! Mr. Abdullah is indeed speaking the truth, he had a
family emergency for real. He received a phone call from his home which required his
immediate attention. His daughter wasn’t feeling well so he had to leave early. Here is the
medical report of her daughter.
(Hands over the medical report to clerk who gives it to the judge)
So Mrs. Zainab do you remember an event like this taking place?
Colleague (Zainab): Yes, I remember him attending a phone call while we were discussing the
agenda for the meeting. Immediately afterwards he panicked and left the office telling me to
cancel the meeting.
Prosecutor (Mateen): Objection Your Honor!
Judge (Mukaram): Objection sustained.
Prosecutor (Mateen): Your honor, I have some evidence to present to this court.
(Plays the CCTV footage of the entrance of Mr. Virk’s apartment building on the screen
in the court)
Defense Lawyer (Wadeea): Objection You Honor!
Judge (Mukaram): Objection sustained
Defense Lawyer (Wadeea): Your honor! Mr. Abdullah is indeed speaking the truth, he had
a family emergency for real. He received a phone call from his home which required his
immediate attention. His daughter wasn’t feeling well so he had to leave early. Here is the
medical report of her daughter.
(Hands over the medical report to clerk who gives it to the judge)
Prosecutor (Mateen): Objection Your Honor!
Judge (Mukaram): Objection sustained.
Prosecutor (Mateen): I would once again request Mr. Abdullah to come to the stand for
even further questioning.
Judge (Mukaram): Permission Granted.
Prosecutor (Mateen): Mr. Abdullah now there’s no point of lying since everyone here has
seen that you entered Mr. Virk’s apartment.
Business Partner (Abdullah): No I told you that my daughter was not feeling well so I went
to the
pharmacy under Mr. Arsum’s apartment to get medicine for her since there is only one
pharmacy in our town.
Prosecutor (Mateen): What shoe size are you Mr. Abdullah?
Business Partner (Abdullah): 40
Prosecutor (Mateen): Your honor, take a look at this forensic report which shows that
footprints of someone with size 40 entering Mr. Arsum's apartment.
(Abdullah starts panicking)
Business Partner (Abdullah): OKAY OKAY I will tell you the whole truth. Virk had been
working with Raza for a long time and they earned a lot of money working together. I
became jealous of their relationship and wealth. So I gave Arsum an idea to eliminate Raza
so we could sell all his shares and get rich. ARSUM agreed to this idea and called me before
my meeting saying that he was ready to kill Raza
Defendant (Arsum): WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING ABDULLAH.
Judge (Mukaram): Order Order, Maintain silence please!
Business Partner (Abdullah): Arsum there’s no point in hiding anything. (Abdullah falls on
his knees and pleads to judge)
Your Honor PLEASE FORGIVE US! We made a grave mistake
(Crying continues)
Judge (Mukaram): Officer please take both of them into custody. Both sides can give their
closing statements now.
Defense lawyer (Wadeea): Thank you for your attention, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury,
on this very important case. Mr. Abdullah's sudden outburst just now cannot be considered
concrete proof. Mr. Mateen's claimed that Mr. ARSUM murdered Mr. Raza using Ice but
that is simply not possible. There are many problems with stabbing a person with an icicle,
not the least of which is penetration. They are slippery, tough to grip, break easily, and will
have an effect on the flesh if it does manage to penetrate. Think of the shape of an icicle. It is
a cone. They are made of melting water. Your hand is going to slide the length of the shaft
and prevent deep penetration.
Once you stab a person there is not going to be immediate death. There will however be a
reaction. Yet no signs of a scuffle were found at the crime scene.
Judge (Mukaram): The prosecution may give their closing statement.
Prosecutor (Mateen): Honorable Judge! We all are now sure that Mr. ABDULLAH
provided Mr.
Arsum with these ice trays and motivated him to kill the victim and stage it as a suicide. Mr.
Abdullah gave the idea of using ice shaped knife to stab the victim so that the police would
remain clueless during the investigation as the ice would melt leaving behind no proofs.
Moreover, he lied about his daughter’s illness, not visiting Mr. Arsum's apartment, staying in
the office late and above all lied about Mr. Raza's mental health just to make this ruthless
murder look like a suicide case. We ask the court to charge the murderer and the mastermind
behind this case based on all the evidences and witness’s testimonies. We demand justice for
Mr. Raza through a guilty verdict.
Judge (Mukaram): In light of all the witnesses and evidence presented, this court found Mr.
Arsum guilty of the murder of Mr. Raza penalizing him of life imprisonment and Mr.
Abdullah guilty of aiding the murder penalizing him 40 years. The case is adjourned.
