Murdered: Woman stoned to death

Neighbours rally to save her, call police but in vain.

RUSTAM:

In the first incident of its kind in Mardan, the home district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti, a man stoned his wife to death over a domestic dispute.

According to the neighbours, Muhammad Saeed of Girhoch village married Shazia from Barikot tehsil in Swat six months back. The couple soon developed domestic disputes, with Shazia eventually leaving her husband and going back to Barikot.

They said Saeed was suspicious of the nature of his wife’s relationship with his brother, and shot him dead in an earlier attack.

“Shazia left the house and escaped when Saeed opened fire on both, his own brother and Shazia. The brother succumbed to injuries and died but Shazia managed to escape, in spite of her wounds,” a neighbour told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity.

Earlier, Saeed had called his mother-in-law, Noor Jehan, a resident of Barikot, asking her to bring Shazia back to resolve the dispute.

“Both Noor Jehan and Shazia came to the village. Saeed and his accomplices took Shazia to the nearby mountains and stoned her to death,” another neighbour added.

The neighbours said that when they learnt about Saeed’s intentions, they made an announcement on the local mosque’s loudspeaker and informed all the villagers to try and rescue Shazia. They also called the local police for help but it was too late, as Saeed and his accomplices had already killed Shazia.

“Yes, we had informed the police, but they came too late. Shazia had been killed by the time the police reached there,” another neighbour said.

Police said that 13 persons have been nominated by Noor Jehan, Shazia’s mother, in an FIR lodged in Rustam Police Station. They added that they had already rounded up six suspects before the FIR was registered.

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