Pakistani cricketer Mustafa Bashir to go to prison after beating wife with a bat

Mustafa Bashir, a Pakistani cricketer based in the UK, has been awarded a jail term, after he clubbed his wife Fakhara Karim with a cricket bat. 34-year-old Bashir had also forced bleach down her throat. On Friday, he was jailed for 18 months after the judge claimed he was ‘fundamentally misled’ by the cricketer.

Bashir’s legal team had earlier tried to swindle the court by saying that the cricketer had received a contract from the Leicestershire County Cricket Club. As a result, the legal team claimed that a jail term would ruin Bashir’s career as a cricketer, and hence requested the sentence to be considered.

However, upon further investigation, the Leicestershire CCC stated that they had never contacted Mustafa Bashir for a contract. As a result, Judge Richard Mansell came under pressure to alter the sentence that was given to Bashir.

Judge Mansell had earlier sentenced Bashir to 18 months’ prison and a suspension of two years.  Bashir was also ordered to attend a workshop entitled “building better relationships”. The 34-year old was then asked to cough up 1,000 pounds as costs and was banned from contacting Karim.

Mustafa Bashir had earlier played cricket for Oldham and Bolton in the UK. The Leicestershire CCC also accepted that Bashir might have taken part in an open nets session, but it categorically said that he was never offered a contract from their club.

Wasim Khan, LCCC chief executive, said the claim had been “deeply disturbing” for the club.

“Leicestershire CCC are appalled that Bashir could have invented a job offer from the club in order, it would seem, to evade a prison sentence. The club are actively involved in the fight against domestic abuse,” he said.

“The club are actively involved in the fight against domestic abuse and had already arranged a Bowling Out Domestic Violence cricket match in September in support of the White Ribbon Campaign, set up to tackle domestic violence,” Wasim Khan added.