Marital dispute: Six of a family gunned down in their sleep

HYDERABAD: A woman’s family allegedly shot and killed her husband and six of his relatives over a marital dispute in Salaro village near Hala on Monday morning.

The perpetrators allegedly broke into the house of the Rind family and opened fire on the sleeping individuals. The deceased have been identified as three brothers, Murtaza, 30, Manju, 23, and Bhutto, 20, as well as Manju’s wife Gulabi, their sister Samreen, 11, and their mother Jaadu. Shakeela, 10, who is the daughter of another family member, was critically injured.

According to Matiari SSP Asif Bughio, “The Rind and Brohi families have been locked in a marital dispute for around two years and due to this, the victims’ family has claimed that armed men belonging to the Brohi community killed their family members.” Men from a Karachi-based Jatoi family allegedly accompanied the Brohis in the assault.

He stated that eight suspects have been detained in connection with the crime. Meanwhile, Hyderabad DIG Naeem Ahmed Shaikh asked that the inquiry report be presented within 24 hours.

Following the incident, the bereaved family and village residents staged a sit-in on the National Highway for two hours along with the bodies, which were later shifted to Hala taluka hospital. The local health authorities allegedly failed to provide ambulances to transport the bodies from the crime scene to the hospital.

Ameer Bux, a relative of the families, stated that Murtaza had married Nasreen Brohi two years ago without the consent of her family. Thereafter, the Brohis lodged an FIR against the Rinds, accusing them of kidnapping. Nasreen, however, stated in court that she had willfully married Murtaza and wanted to live with her husband.

“This did not deter the Brohi family and they took the matter to a jirga which issued a Rs1.2 million fine on the Rind family,” Bux added, claiming that the Rinds had allegedly paid the fine.

No FIR had been lodged until the time of filing of this report.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th, 2020.