‘Honour’ crime: 10th class girl, 11th class boy found killed

Families say the two had eloped the night before.

MULTAN:

A boy and a girl were found killed on Wednesday in Jahanian, a sub district of Khanewal. The two were accused of having eloped on Tuesday night.

Police have arrested the girl’s brother, Waqas, and her uncle, Mulazim Hussain, on a complaint by the boy’s brother, Khalid. Some other members of the girl’s family, including her father, have also been named in the case,.

Police said 10th class student, Nosheen, and first year student, Muhammad Ajmal, had been shot. The bodies also bore sharp weapon wounds.

Police claimed to have recovered an axe from the house of one of the girl’s relatives. They speculated that the axe was used in the crime.

The girl’ father, Allah Ditta, told police that Ajmal had sent his parents to their house with the proposal a few months ago, but he had turned it down because they were a different caste. He said on Tuesday night, his daughter went missing. He said he and some of his relatives looked for her but could not find her.

He said he had learnt that Ajmal, who lived in the neighbourhood, was also missing. He said both the families believed that the two had eloped.

However, on Wednesday morning, he said, their bodies were found lying in a nearby field. He said he did not know who had killed the two.

In his complaint, Ajmal’s brother, Khalid, accused the girl’s father, brother and uncle of the murders. He said when the girl went missing her family accused Ajmal of telling her to elope. He said her father and uncle had also threatened to kill Ajmal, if they found

Police said that preliminary investigation suggested that Waqas and Mulazim Hussain were involved in the murders. They said the bodies had been sent to the tehsil headquarters hospital for post-mortem examinations.

Separately, in Layyah, Parveen, a resident of Chak-12, was killed by her brother for marrying a man of her choice.

Parveen had left her house and married Imran a few weeks ago. She was, however, brought back by her family. On Wednesday, her brother, Muhammad Nawaz, shot her dead. He also tried to kill Imran, who was severely injured. He was taken to a hospital with the injury, where he was reported to be in a critical condition. Police said Nawaz had not been arrested so far.

Police said that eight women, including the two on Tuesday, were killed over ‘honour’ in the last four days in Multan, Khanewal, Layyah and Bahawalnagar.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 19^th, 2012.