Brutal murder: Two pregnant women tortured, killed ‘by in-laws’

KHANEWAL/VEHARI: Two pregnant women were killed in Khanewal and Vehari allegedly by their husbands abetted by their families. The police have arrested both husbands. One of them admitted to killing her wife while talking to The Express Tribune.

Asma, an eight-month pregnant woman, was killed after torture on Tuesday allegedly by her husband and his family in front of her mother, who had been held by some men, at Kot Abdullah village in Khanewal.

Makhdoompur Pahora police have arrested her husband, Asim. SHO Javed Akhter Gadi said police teams were raiding the surrounding villages to arrest other accused in the case.

Asma’s body was seized by the police when her in-laws were taking it for burial. The police said they did not make any arrests at the time because no crime was established at that point.

An FIR was later registered against the deceased’s husband and his uncle under Sections 302 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code. Zahoor Shah, father of the deceased, was the complainant.

The initial chemical report stated that the woman was severally tortured. Dr Nadia at the Khanewal district headquarters (DHQ) hospital said that signs of torture were visible on the woman’s forhead, back and legs. She said that Asma had also been poisoned.

Asma’s mother, Ameera Bibi, who claims to be a witness to the murder, said that her son-in-law, his uncles Mehboob and Khalid allegedly beat up Asma with iron rods. She said she had been held by some men, preventing her from saving her daughter. She said she had gone to Asma’s house on Tuesday to settle a misunderstanding between the couple.

“Her husband suspected her of being in a relationship with someone,” she said, “I trusted my daughter. She could never have cheated on him. I tried to assure him and his family that my daughter was innocent but they would not listen.”

She alleged that Asim and his uncles had planned the meeting, “they suddenly took out iron rods, handcuffed my daughter and started beating her.”

Bibi said she wanted the FIR to be filed under her name because she feared that her husband might get influenced by villagers and end up pardoning the killers. She said Khalid, Asim’s uncle, should also be nominated in the FIR. Dr Yousaf Sumra, the DHQ hospital medical superintendent, said that a comprehensive autopsy report would take up to 10 days.

He said samples of the deceased’s blood had been sent to Multan and Lahore to determine the cause of her death.

Killed over suspicion

Shaista, Vehari’s chak 51 WB resident, was killed by her husband allegedly over suspicions of having an illicit relationship. She was eight months pregnant.

Yousaf and his father, Hafeez, were arrested by the police on Tuesday. Talking to The Express Tribune, Yousaf admitted that he had killed his wife. He said they had not been on good terms for a few months. “I was fed up with her complaints about my parents. She wanted me to move out of my parents’ house,” he said.

Shaista’s father, Ghaffar, said that her daughter was killed because Yousaf and his family suspected her of having an illicit relationship. He said Yousaf regularly beat up his daughter. “He refused to own the baby,” he added.

SHO Falak Sher Bhatti of Saddar police said that the woman had been choked to death by stuffing a piece of cloth in her mouth.

A post mortem examination was conducted at the Vehari district headquarters (DHQ) hospital. The report has not yet been made public but hospital sources said that it was clear that the woman had been pregnant and that she died after severe torture.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th,  2011.