Freewill marriage: Couple shot dead allegedly by wife’s brother

SUKKUR:

A newly-wed couple was gunned down near Dargah Chattan Shah in Pir Jo Goth, Khairpur, allegedly by the woman’s brother and his accomplices.

Zahid Hussain, son of Sikandar Ali Abro, and Shahnaz, daughter of Dost Muhammad Jagirani, eloped on August 22 and tied the knot in a court in Hyderabad the next day. Residents of Sadaat Muhalla Luqman said they returned to Khairpur on Sunday evening when they were murdered. A police van saw some men dumping the bodies in a date orchard near Ganj-e-Shaheedan graveyard. Later, Shahnaz’s brother, Muzafar Ali Jagirani, surrendered himself to the police and confessed that he killed his sister because she had fled with Hussain.

On his indication, the police recovered the bodies from the date orchard and shifted them to Civil Hospital, Khairpur, for post-mortems. The accused further told the police that following the freewill marriage, a meeting of the elders of Jagirani clan was held, during which they declared the couple karo and kari and ordered to kill them. B-section police assistant head constable, Habibullah, said that a case has been registered against 22 persons, including Muzafar Ali Jagirani and others. He said that raids were being conducted to arrest the remaining accused.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2013.