Ramsha Wassan's suspected murderer still at large

Police accused of dragging feet in arrest of suspect from powerful family

KARACHI: Barely a year after the murder of a young girl in Punjab galvanised the nation against police apathy in cases involving children, civil society organisations in Sindh are up in arms against the “cold-blooded” murder of a teenage girl who was allegedly shot dead by the cousin of a PPP leader in Khairpur Mir's.

The horrific incident occurred last Friday, but the main suspect, Zulfikar Wassan alias Zulfo Wassan is still at large, allegedly due to political pressure.

Sources in the Khairpur police told The Express Tribune that Ramsha Wassan, 16, was from a poor family in Haji Nawab Wassan Village and wanted to marry a boy from another village. This exercise of free will allegedly went against the “rules” that had allegedly been put in place by Zulfo Wassan.

“After Zulfo came to know that the girl was in love with a boy and wanted to marry him, he entered the house and kidnapped the girl on January 19,” said a police official who asked for his name to be withheld.  “The parents of Ramsha went to Manzoor Wassan, pleading for the release their daughter from Zulfo’s confinement. Manzoor intervened and the girl was released a few days before her murder,” the police official added.

Reports pouring in from various sources suggested that soon after her release from the captivity, Ramsha began insisting that she wanted to marry the boy. This irked Zulfo, who allegedly went with a group of men and broke into her house, dragged her out and killed her. According to medico-legal reports, the body of the girl was riddled with bullets from point-blank range.



The father of the girl, who works as a helper for the Wassan family, was unwilling to even lodge a complaint against Zulfo, who has earned notoriety in the area for his alleged involvement in criminal activities and has more than two dozen cases against him. “There was pressure on the family to not register a case. Initially, the mother of the girl protested, vowing to pursue the case, but she has also been told to keep quiet,” said Nisar Khokhar, a journalist and civil society activist who has been campaigning against the case on social media.

Since the parents did not lodge a case, the police registered an FIR for ‘honour killing’ on behalf of the state. The FIR registered at Kumb Police Station said, “A police party was on a routine patrol when near Haji Nawab Wassan Village, they received information that Zulfikar Wassan and four unidentified men were going to the village with the intention of murdering Ramsha on the pretext of Karo Kari [honour killing]. As the police reached the outskirts of the village, they heard gunshots and then saw the accused Zulfiqar Wassan armed with a pistol, along with four other unidentified persons. After firing, they fled north while firing into the air.” It further said, “When the policemen went inside the house, they found the body of the girl lying on a cot. When police asked what had happened, the mother of the girl said that Zulfiqar Wassan has killed her after accusing her of Karo Kari.”

13-year-old Ramsha Wassan was kidnapped & shot dead in village Peer Guddu Wassan of Sindh's Kumb area. Her mother says Ramsha was declared Kari & murdered by PPP leader Manzoor Wassan's nephew Zulfiqar. Sindh govt must launch a fair & transparent inquiry! #JusticeForRimshaWassan pic.twitter.com/y8tJ71K8yj

— Bilal Farooqi (@bilalfqi) February 4, 2019

Rights activists Kashif Bajeer, who along with other civil society members has formed a fact-finding team, said, “Blood relatives are usually involved in honour killings cases. Zulfo Wassan has nothing to do with the victim’s family. It was a cold-blooded murder. He must be sent to the gallows,” he said, adding that civil society organisations and writers have arranged rallies and demonstrations against the incident.



Manzoor Wassan and former PPP MNA Nawab Wassan have publicly condemned the murder, but sources privy to the development told The Express Tribune that behind the scenes, they are supporting the main culprits.  “Because of their pressure, the parents of the girl refused to lodge a case. You can understand the pressure on the police,” said a PPP leader who lives in Khairpur. He added that the village falls in the constituency of PPP MNA Nafisa Shah, “who has done a PhD in honour killings from Oxford University. She is also silent because of inter-political influence in the case.”

Khairpur SSP Umer Tufail, however, denied any political pressure on the police and said, "We lodged the case because the family was unwilling to speak to us," adding that the police have conducted many raids and arrested 13 suspects. "We hope to arrest the main accused soon," he said.

Karachi civil society protest against killing of #RamshaWassan #JusticeForRamshaWassan & #ArrestZulfiqarWassan pic.twitter.com/2VC4a93wAA

— Saeed Sangri (@Sangrisaeed) February 3, 2019

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has taken notice of the issue and ordered the Khairpur Mir SSP to arrest the culprits without any delay. “I will not tolerate such incidents. Please arrest the main accused involved in the killing of the teenage girl,” CM said.

Who is Zulfo Wassan

Zulfiqar Wassan aka Zulfo Wassan is allegedly the ringleader of a notorious criminal gang in Khairpur. He is also the cousin of PPP leader Manzoor Wassan and nephew of former PPP MNA Nawab Wassan. According to police records, he had been involved in more than two dozen cases of kidnapping, murder and other crimes. He currently is on bail in most of the cases, while a few have allegedly been disposed of with support from provincial government officials.

Sources in the police told The Express Tribune that between 2014 and 2015, when SSP Nasir Aftab and ASP Masood Bangash – both well-reputed police officers – were posted in Khairpur, they conducted many raids to arrest Zulfo Wassan. The police action angered the Wassans and Manzoor complained about it to then-chief minister Qaim Ali Shah and the PPP leadership.  “They came face to face with the police in the area and threatened to leave the party if action was not stopped against them. This compelled Qaim Ali Shah to transfer SSP Nasir Aftab from the district,” the sources said, adding that Zulfo Wassan plays a pivotal role in every election the area because of the influence he has earned from “terrorising” the area.

The arrested accused namely Ghaffar Wassan was identified by mother of the deceased victim Rimsha Wassan who was present on the spot at time of the offence.