Kidnapped? Eloped? No one knows for sure

ISLAMABAD: A 45-year-old man has lodged a complaint at the Bhara Kahu police station about his wife being kidnapped.

Ziaul Haq, a resident of Al Athar village near Bhara Kahu on the outskirts of Islamabad, has accused a man named Manzoor Hussain of kidnapping his fourth wife. “She was young and beautiful. I loved her very much and he kidnapped her,” Haq told The Express Tribune. “It took 20 days for me to get my complaint registered ... [The police] were not taking me seriously,” he added.

Left with no choice, Haq had to resort to other means to get his case registered. “I used influence and even bribed some police officers. They finally registered my complaint on April 29,” he said. “She was kidnapped on the tenth,” he exclaimed. A police official denied Haq’s allegations. “He did not have any substantial proof that his wife was kidnapped.

We had written a report but an FIR cannot be registered against someone until we have evidence against the accused,” the investigation officer, Fiaz Khan, told The Express Tribune. However, the police registered the FIR later – allegedly because the complainant bribed them. According to police, the evidence suggests that Sohra Bibi, Haq’s wife, had left with Hussain on her own accord.

“She had been married to Hussain before getting a divorce,” Khan said. The police believe she has eloped with her former husband and has gone into hiding. Haq does not believe his wife has eloped. “I am certain that Manzoor Hussain has kidnapped my wife. I have been so tense for the past twenty days,” he said. “It is a matter of life and death for me.

People have started talking about it [the incident] in my village. I have even considered killing myself,” he added tearfully, “I just want her back.”