Justice served: Two awarded life term for raping, murdering woman

One of the accused was son-in-law of deceased

MANSEHRA: Two men were awarded a life sentence for raping and murdering a woman in a remote village of Mansehra.

Counsel for the deceased’s family, Advocate Mustafa Khan Swati, told the court the daughter of Salima Bibi married Javed Iqbal.

However on February 5, 2013, Salima Bibi went missing from home and later, her bullet-riddled body was found from a dried water course in Khawari village.

He said after the autopsy, it was confirmed the woman had been raped before being murdered.

Swati informed the court soon after the incident, Salima Bibi’s son-in-law Javed Iqbal was taken in as a suspect by the police in the rape and murder case.

During interrogation, the accused confessed he and his friend Asif kidnapped his mother-in-law and raped her. Later, they shot the woman dead, Iqbal had said.

Swati told the court Iqbal raped Salima Bibi because he was facing problems in his marriage for which Iqbal held Salima Bibi responsible.

After the proceedings, additional district judge Haq Nawaz convicted Javed and  Arif. The court awarded a 25-year jail term and a penalty of Rs100,000 each to both the
convicted men.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2016.