Mock Trial Script

In Bethnal Green, a husband and wife were found dead in their home with their 8 year old son.
The couple's 18 year old daughter was missing and everyone initially assumed she had been
abducted. As it turns out, the daughter, Mahnoor, committed the murders on her boyfriend’s
insistence. The 18 year old had a 32 year old boyfriend named Hassan who believed himself to
be a God. Right before the murders, the two had become engaged. Mahnoor's motive was that
her parents were critical of her relationship."

CAST
1. Prosecution Lawyer (P.L)
2. Defense Lawyer (D.L)
3. Defendant- (Mahnoor)
4. Waris (Cook "Mr. Waris")
5. Mrs Khalid- (Neighbour "Mrs. Khalid")
6. Dr Raza (Psychiatrist "Dr. Raza")

* P.L and D.L sitting*

*Judge enters*

*P.L and D.L stand*

*Judge sits*

*P.L and D.L sit*

Judge: This trial court is held today for the case of State versus Mahnoor. The defendant has
pleaded not guilty in the early administrative hearing of the court. The prosecution, may therefore,
commence pleading their case now.

P.L: Your Honour, on the night of the 7th of October 2015, the dead bodies of the defendant's parents and
8-year old brother were found in a house in Lahore Cantt. The murder of three was witnessed firsthand by
the cook of the family, Mr. Waris. His statement to the Investigation Officer revealed that the murders
were committed by their daughter, the defendant, Miss. Mahnoor. The police retrieved the weapon of
offence from the murder sight, which was a locally-made dagger. In addition, Your Honour, the blood
found on the defendant's clothes matched the DNA of the deceased as per the forensic science reports.
During the course of this time, Your Honour, the defendant was missing and there was the presumption
that she had been abducted. However, as the aforementioned evidence came to surface. It became clear
that there was no abduction. In order to prove my point, I request the permission to call into the witness
box my first witness, Mr. Waris.
Judge: You may proceed, counsel.

*Witness # 1 enters*

P.L: Mr. Waris, how long have you been serving the family of the deceased as their household help?

Waris: 10 years.

P.L: Okay, Mr. Waris, coming to the night of the incident, what were you doing the night Mahnoor
murdered her family in cold blood?

Waris: I was setting the table for dinner for the family.

P.L: What did you witness after that?

Waris: I heard a sudden cry from the family living room and I rushed to see what the noise was. I peeked
through the window, and what I saw next, Your Honour, was unimaginable to my very sight. Miss.
Mahnoor stabbed her parents and then her brother one by one with a knife. I panicked and ran as fast as I
could to my quarters. Your Honour, I was very scared. I didn't know what to do so I hid for my life.

P.L: Is this the knife that you saw Miss. Mahnoor murder her family with?

Waris: Yes.

P.L: Thank you, Mr. Waris.

D.L: Your Honour, the defence would like to cross-examine the prosecution's witness.

Judge: Permission granted, counsel.

D.L: Mr. Waris, you have been with the family of the defendant for the past 10 years. Is that right?

Waris: Yes.

D.L: Fair enough. During this course of time, did you notice any unusual or abnormal changes in
Mahnoor?

Witness # 1: Well, yes. Umm, there did seem to be something odd ever since that Hassan of hers entered
our lives.

D.L: Can you tell the court about what seemed odd with Mahnoor since she met her boyfriend, Hassan?

Witness # 1: Well, Mahnoor stopped eating with the family to begin with. The rare time that she spent
home would be isolated in her room. When I would go to give her some food, she would feel very
frustrated and unhappy and sometimes even aggressive in my presence. There was something wrong with
her, Your Honour. Occasionally, she would get violent as well. I've been hit by her many times but I
excused her for her childish acts. She would even take out her anger on her little brother. Once, she even
threw a plate at him so hard his head started to bleed.

D.L: Thank you, Mr. Waris. That's it from my side Your Honour.
Judge: The prosecution may proceed.

P.L: I would now like to call my second witness, Mrs. Khalid.

*Waris leaves*

*Mrs Khalid enters*

P.L: Mrs. Khalid, how far away do you live from the defendant's house?

Mrs Khalid: I have been living next door since the past 20 years.

P.L: What did you see on the night of the 7th of October 2015?

Mrs Khalid: At around 10 pm that night, I went out of the house to get something from my car. As soon
as I reached the car, I saw Mahnoor running out of her house. She seemed to be in a rush and to my utter
shock, her clothes were stained with blood. I called out to her to know if everything was okay, but she
was forced into a car which then drove off into the darkness at lightning speed.

P.L: Mrs. Khalid, are these the clothes Mahnoor was wearing on the night you saw her running out of her
house?

Mrs Khalid: Yes.

P.L: Thank you, Mrs. Khalid.

Judge: Would the defence like to cross examine the witness?

D.L: Yes, Your Honour.

Judge: You may proceed.

D.L: Mrs. Khalid, I would like to ask you something not about the night of the murder but about the
defendant. You claim to have been neighbours with the family since 20 years, is that right?

Mrs Khalid: Yes.

D.L: Did you and the family of the defendant have a close neighborly relationship?

Mrs Khalid: Of course. Mahnoor practically grew up in my house until..

D.L: Until what, Mrs. Khalid?

Mrs Khalid: Truth be told, she changed after she met that boy, Hassan.

D.L: In what ways, Mrs. Khalid?

Mrs Khalid: I started seeing lesser and lesser of her, to begin with. And eventually, I'd only see her by
coincidence. I'd wave to her and say hello. On the better days, she waved in an unusually weird and
maybe even a little scary manner, as if her mind was elsewhere. On the worse days, she'd give me a stare
and ignore my greetings.
D.L: Is that all Mrs. Khalid or do you recall any other unusual behaviour on Mahnoor's part?

Mrs Khalid: Well, she did have an unusual attachment and affinity with that man. I once saw them on the
night of a full moon, at the rooftop of my neighbour's house, chanting some sort of strange words about
killing infidels from this world. In fact, Hassan believed himself to be a messenger of god who came tp
this world to end the lives of all those who are not real Muslims because God told him so. I even told
Mahnoor's mother about what I saw and she said she'd make sure she would look into the matter.

PL: objection your honor, the witness is clearly being biased

Judge: sustained

D.L: Thank you, Mrs. Khalid. That'll be all.

Judge: The prosecution may proceed.

*Mrs Khalid leaves*

*Dr Raza enters*

D.L: Dr. Katherine, how long have you been Mahnoor's psychiatrist?

Dr Raza: Her parents got her checked up from me only a couple of times in the past five years.

D.L: Could you tell the court as to why my client's parents felt the need to take her to you in the first
place?

Dr Raza: Her parents thought she needed medical help because her behaviour was getting strange.

D.L: And what were your conclusions about her in her couple of visits to your clinic?

Dr Raza: She was displaying signs of immense negativity. She seemed to be under the influence of
someone mentally unstable and upon asking her parents who she was spending most of her time with, I
got to know that her boyfriend Hassan, in fact displayed signs of what we call in medical terms Delusion
of Grandeur.

D.L: Dr, would you please enlighten the court as to what this Delusion is?

Dr Raza: This delusion basically pertains to an individual who feels a false importance about himself as
was the case with Hassan who apparently thought he was a messenger of God who was born to kill all
the infidels. Such a person could be called a delusional. But since, I did not get to examine him firsthand,
But, Delusion of Grandeur was one symptom of the mental disorder I could decipher.

D.L: Alright. Dr, do you think Mahnoor was influenced by Hassan?

Dr Raza: Definitely. In my couple of meetings with her, it seemed like she was talking but the words
weren't hers. It might sound childish but she did in fact speak like she was a chosen representative of
God alongside her lover Hassan and both of them were charged with bringing “infidels” to justice. It was
like it was only Mahnoor's physical presence that belonged to her, everything else seemed to be
borrowed. From Hassan, of course. This was not normal and I told her parents to get her instant medical
treatment for this from me. Your Honour, the patient herself didn't know what she was doing most of
the time.

D.L: Pardon me, Doctor, but did you just call Mahnoor a "patient"?

Dr Raza: Well, yes.

D.L: Your Honour, that's all from the defence. Thank you, Dr. Katherine.

Judge: Would the prosecution like to cross-examine the defence witness?

P.L: No, Your Honour.

*Dr Raza leaves*

Judge: Is there anything else from the defence that they would like to tell the court?

D.L: Your Honour, I would like to call my client into the witness box.

Judge: You may.

*Defendant comes up*

D.L: Mahnoor, did you kill your parents?

Defendant: No. No. No. I. No. Kill. Not.

D.L: Did you like your parents?

*Defendant goes into a fixture, keeps staring blankly*

D.L: Mahnoor, did you like your parents?

Defendant: No. NO. Not good. Hassan is good.

D.L: Okay, Mahnoor, thank you. You may take your seat.

*Defendant sits down again*

D.L: That is all from the defence, Your Honour.

Judge: Counsel for the prosecution, please deliver your closing arguments.

P.L: Your Honour, there seems to be no doubt that the accused is the offender. I do not understand
what my opposing counsel is trying to prove but the forensic as well as circumstantial evidence is
enough to prove that the defendant is guilty of first-degree murder. The defendant had the intention to
kill, being her hatred of her family . And the defence examination of the defendant looks like a mere
show to me. The defendant committed the murders in her right mind and to cover up for them, she is
now acting like her mental condition is not fine. Your Honour, the cook saw the murder happen. The
neighbor saw her escape. Medical evidence revealed that it was her blood which was found on the
dagger. Where does all of this point to? One thing only, Mahnoor is guilty and she should be punished
for her acts. Your Honour, she was 18 at the time she committed the murders. She had reached an age
where she could tell the difference between right and wrong, why then is the defence counsel bent on
proving that the influence of Hassan on her was so intense she lost her basic moral principles? I fail to
understand, Your Honour. I would urge the court to convict Mahnoor of first degree murder as her
conviction is not only a matter of justice being imparted in this case. It will be a useful precedent for
later cases as well. With that, I rest my prosecution case.

Judge: in light of all the facts gathered from the hearing, I declare Ms Mahnoor guilty and sentence her
to life in prison.