On court premises: Woman seeking divorce gunned down by brother

BAHAWALPUR: A 28-year-old woman was gunned down by her brother and cousin in a civil court hearing her plea for a divorce here on Tuesday.

Kaneez Bibi was shot seven times by her brother Abdul Rasheed and cousin Arshad in the court of Civil Judge/Judicial Magistrate Muhammad Javed Khan and died on the scene.

Two police officials in charge of security at the court, Assistant Sub Inspector Ashiq and Constable Ashraf, were suspended and arrested for negligence.

Kaneez, of Mouza Jamal Channar, Basti Gharibabad, Noorpur Nouranga (35 km from here), had sought a divorce from Yaseen, her husband of 12 years. She had left him some four months ago and fled her village with a local landlord named Ahmed Hussain.

Abdul Rasheed and Arshad, after killing Kaneez, turned themselves in at Cantonment police station, Bahawalpur. They said they had no regrets and the killing should be a warning to the landlords of the area.

They said that the landlords would be targeted next if they did not stop duping and molesting innocent girls. They said that no one could stop the poor people of the area from protecting their honour.

Kaneez’s parents expressed no sorrow over the killing.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2011.