Domestic violence?: Woman’s body exhumed on orders of judicial magistrate

Shumaila was repeatedly beaten and threatened by her in-laws

ABBOTTABAD: The body of a woman who was allegedly burnt alive by her in- laws, was exhumed amid tight security on Wednesday. The court of judicial magistrate had ordered the exhumation on the request of police, doctors said.

According to the Donga Gali police, a few days back, Shumaila Bibi 23, was hospitalised with 80% burns and later died in hospital. Her in-laws claimed that her injuries were caused by an exploding gas cylinder.

But Khalilur Rehman, the deceased’s father, in his complaint to police stated that his daughter married Qasim without her family’s consent, and soon after her marriage, her in-laws subjected her to torture and regularly beat her on the slightest pretext.

He further added that to get rid of her, Qasim and other family members set her on fire and termed it a gas cylinder accident. The complainant also said that Shumaila’s in-laws obtained an autopsy exemption from him by taking his signature on a blank piece of paper in the presence of some policemen.

It was only after the local media raised the issue that the Donga Gali police registered a murder case against Shumaila’s husband Qasim, his mother Parvin Bibi, and brother Naseer Ahmed under section.

The accused have already secured bail-before-arrest from a local court.

Meanwhile following registration of case against victim’s in-laws, the police moved an application with the court of a judicial magistrate in Abbottabad seeking exhumation of the body for investigation.

On court orders, doctors from Benazir Shaheed Teaching Hospital Abbottabad exhumed the body amid tight security and collected samples from the body for analysis. Dr Tayyaba, Dr Nusrat Ara and Dr Shaheena Mehtab took part in the exhuming process.

Doctors said that the samples have been sent for further examination and the investigation process would be completed after the report.

At the exhumation, Shumaila’s cousin Najamul Hasan disclosed that she had faced domestic violence during her one-year marriage.

He added that it was an open secret that Qasim and his family treated her badly only because she solemnised a court marriage without the consent of her family.

In support of his accusation, Hasan told the media that three days before Ramazan, Shumaila lodged a complaint with Donga Gali Police Station accusing Qasim of threatening to throw boiling water on her, but the police arranged a compromise between the couple.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 17^th, 2016.