Busted: Mehndi artist’s cousin arrested in murder case

We had illicit relations and I killed her over her claims of pregnancy, confesses cousin

KARACHI: In less than a week, police officials investigating the murder of a young female Mehndi artist claimed to have arrested a suspect on Saturday.

The body of a 17-year-old girl, S*, was found from an under-construction plot at Sector 4-D in Surjani Town at around 11am on February 2 after some locals informed the police.

The body was later shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for an autopsy where doctors declared that the teenage girl was strangled to death after being subjected to rape.



A special police team was formed, headed by Surjani DSP Sohrab Meo, to investigate the case and arrest the culprit(s).

"The victim was missing for a day before her body was found," said DSP Meo, adding that the girl was a resident of Khawaja Ajmer Nagri area and went missing Tuesday afternoon after she left the beauty parlour near her residence, where she worked as a Mehndi artist.

While investigating the case, police officials said that they found involvement of the victim's cousin in the murder. "Our informer told us that she [the victim] was seen on a motorcycle with someone," said Meo during a press conference at his office on Saturday.

"Finally, we traced the owner of the motorcycle," he said, adding that the police later arrested the accused, Rizwan alias Raja.

The accused also confessed to the crime. "She was my cousin," revealed Raja. "We had illicit relations, too, and I killed her over her claims of pregnancy."



The family of the girl demanded justice, saying that the accused should be punished with an iron hand.

Although the police have probed the killing of the Mehndi artist, they have yet to inquire into the kidnapping-cum-rape case of a minor girl who was found from a stream in Korangi last month.

Police have failed to make any major breakthrough in the case despite the passage of at least two weeks.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 6^th, 2017.