Heinous crime: Man arrested for assaulting wife

He had allegedly told her to develop illicit relations with his boss and beat her up when she refused

FAISALABAD: Sagodha Road police have arrested a man who allegedly stabbed his wife after she refused to develop illicit relations with a man her husband worked for.

This is one of the first cases of domestic violence registered in the district after the enactment of Women Protect Act.

The case was registered on a complaint filed by Rida Bibi, daughter of Irshad Ahmad, a resident of New Green Town. A Sargodha Road police spokesperson said that they had arrested her husband Kashif Rafiq.

The spokesperson said that Rida Bibi had married Rafiq, also a resident of New Green Town, eight years ago. Their neighbours said that they were not happily married. “They used to yell at each other every other day and Rafiq would beat her up often,” of the neighbours said.

Rida Bibi told the police that her husband was involved in some ‘immoral’ activities and had tried to get her to develop illicit relations with other men. “Kashif worked at Idrees’s dera and had borrowed some money from him.”

She said that he had been unable to return the money and when Idress asked for it back, Rafiq had tried to convince his wife to get into an illicit relationship with him.

The complainant said that when she refused, Rafiq beat her up.

He hit her with the lid of a pressure cooker and stabbed her. Police said that he also cut off her hair.

Rida Bibi was seriously injured and was taken to Allied Hospital. Doctors treating her said she had suffered major injuries to her face and eyes and was in intensive care treatment.

The doctors said that she had been hit on her face several times.

Investigations SP Farrukh Raza took serious notice of the incident and directed the Sargodha Road police to register a case without delay. He also issued the police instructions to arrest Rafiq.

The FIR was registered under Section 354 and 337-V of Pakistan Penal Code (use of criminal assault on a woman and uprooting someone’s hair).

A special police team was formed to conduct raids. They arrested Rafiq and sent him to a lock up for interrogation. Police said they were also looking for Idrees.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 3^rd, 2016.