Disabled woman fears for family’s lives

Samreen seeks protection for family from brother’s accused killers.

PESHAWAR: Naveeda Samreen, the disabled sister of two slain brothers, has appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan for protection from their alleged enemies and shifting of the case from Charsada courts to Nowshera.

Narrating her ordeal at Peshawar Press Club on Monday, she accused Jehangeir and Faheem of killing her brothers Syed Bacha and Fayyaz.

Naveeda, who also has a disabled brother, said if the case had been transferred to Nowshera, her brother Fayyaz might have survived. He was killed in an ambush last week while going to Charsadda to appear in court.

“We had already appealed to the Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court (PHC) for shifting the case from Charsada to Nowshera but received no response from his office,” she said.

Giving details about the enmity, she said the alleged killers were Fayyaz’s brothers-in-law. Fayyaz’s wife Haya Naz wanted a divorce from Fayyaz. “She married my brother some four years ago but had an affair with another person. She never accepted my brother as her husband despite having two sons with him. She was always bent upon creating misunderstandings in the family.”

After the marriage, she said Haya Naz spent two years with Fayyaz, then went back to her parents and sought a divorce from him on the pretext that he and his family beat her.

Naveeda, who is a radio announcer and member of the Special Persons Development Association, said her family members were not ready to grant a divorce and kept asking her to return home.

She said after her repeated refusals, they arranged a second marriage for Fayyaz, which Jehangir and Faheem could not bear. Instead of advising their sister to go back to her husband’s home they shot dead Syed Bacha in Charsadda Bazaar last year and now Fayyaz as well. “They are threatening to kill us all,” she said.

She also accused the brothers of killing their own nephew, Fayyaz’s two year old son, at their home.

She demanded the Chief Minister, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor and provincial police chief arrest the killers and provide protection to the rest of the family while appealing for shifting of the case to Nowshera as the family had moved to Punjab due to continuing threats.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 26^th,  2011.