Saira Bano was found dead near the Army Graveyard in Malir Cantonment on December 14, 2010. The police said that a couple, Zafar and Sehar, who were friends with the victim, killed her at their house and then threw her body.
During interrogation, Zafar revealed that he killed Saira because he wanted Rs150,000 that he knew she had in her bank account.
SIO Malir Cantt police station Syed Tahir Javaid said they found the body of a woman from Rehman Road and sent it to Edhi Morgue for identification. The police registered an FIR (231/2010) against unidentified suspects on behalf of the state. On December 15, the woman was identified as 37-year-old Saira Bano, daughter of Muhammad Ayub. The body was handed over to the family, who did not suspect anyone for the murder. They told the police, however, that Saira’s ATM card, from United Bank Limited Sharae Faisal branch, was missing.
When the police looked through the bank data, they found out that Rs11,000 were withdrawn from the account through a Standard Chartered ATM in Nazimabad No. 3 on the day of the murder, said the SIO.
In the ATM video, a woman in a burqa withdrew the cash but Zafar could be seen waiting for her in a car outside the booth. Saira’s family identified him and managed to arrest the couple from their house in Nazimabad.
Zafar told the police that he planned to steal Saira’s ATM after his wife told him that she had Rs150,000 in her bank account but Saira saw him take the card. Since she created a fuss, Zafar said, he strangled her. The accused couple have two children, both of whom were not present in the house on that day. Saira’s father, Ayub, said that his daughter was not married and used to work at a private company. The accused have been sent to jail after remand.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 5th, 2011.
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