Woman lops off man’s nose for harassing her

Shehnaz said she wanted Ahmed to feel the shame he caused her family

SARGODHA: A 20-year-old girl chopped off the nose of a father of four on Friday allegedly because he was harassing her.

According to Kot Momin police officials, Behak Dayam village resident Bashir Ahmed allegedly used to harass his neighbour Wali Muhammad’s daughter Shahnaz Bibi over the phone. “He would threaten me and say that he could easily ruin my life by spreading rumours about me,” Shahnaz said. She said that her family had begun receiving prank calls about her and that random strangers had begun harassing her by mentioning Ahmed.

Shehnaz said that her family believed the rumours to be true. “My parents and brothers believed his claims about having relations with me and I was severely beaten,” she said. Shehnaz said that her family began to punish her on a regular basis for the shame they were suffering at the hands of the local community. “My father constantly said ‘tum ne humaari naak katvaa di he’ (you have dishonoured us) and I began to fear for my life,” she told the police.

Shehnaz Bibi said that her brother, Mohammad Azeem, had attacked Bashir Ahmed. “When Azeem came home one evening he blamed me. Somehow Ahmed had planted doubts in his mind regarding my character,” she said. Shehnaz said that despite her family’s reactions, Ahmed continued to call and blackmail her. “He told me that if I didn’t agree to having relations with him things would only get worse,” she said, adding that she decided to take matters into her own hands.

On Monday, Shehnaz told Ahmed to meet her near the fields by their village. According to her he agreed to the proposition five days later. “I knew that my family would not be at home at the time and I went to meet him in the fields,” she said. Shehnaz then chopped off Ahmed’s nose with a sharp knife and ran back home. Locals gathered to the site after Ahmed started screaming and took him to the nearby DHQ hospital. Doctors at the DHQ hospital immediately transferred Ahmed to Mayo Hospital in Lahore where he is currently receiving treatment.

Ahmed registered a case with the Laksian police against four people including Shahnaz and her brother Muhammad Azeem. The police raided Wali Muhammad’s house and took Azeem and Shehnaz into custody.

When questioned, Shehnaz said that she did not regret her actions. “He had been harassing me for months without shame. He is married, is the father of four children and still he would not leave me alone,” she said. “Everyone began to tease and harass my family saying that we had lost our honour even though he was the one without honour,” she added. “I made sure that he would not be fit to show his face in public again. Mere baap ne kaha mein ne sab ki naak katva di to mein ne bhi us ski naak kat di,” she said. Ahmed, while still in the hospital, said that he had already had illicit relations with Shehnaz.

“She was jealous of my wife and family. She blamed me for the fact that people were harassing her,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2010.