Slain MPA’s daughters point to another culprit

Accuse Salma Khokhar of firing first shot at Ansari before handing gun to brother

HYDERABAD: The daughters of slain MPA Shahnaz Ansari have claimed that two persons shot their mother in Ali Murad Khokhar village on Saturday.

Talking to the media on Wednesday, Shahnaz's daughter Aamna Ansari alleged that Salma Khokhar fired the first shot and then handed the weapon to her brother, Waqar, who then fired more bullets at the MPA.

"They [the accused] shut the door and didn't let us take her to the hospital. She lay on the floor wailing with pain," said Fatima Ansari, also a daughter of the deceased. She also accused another relative, Siddique Khokhar, of being involved in the murder, and appealed to lawyers not to represent those who killed her mother.

On the day she was killed, Shahnaz had gone to Ali Murad Khokhar village to attend the chehlum of her brother-in-law Zahid Hussain Khokhar. After being shot, she was shifted to Peoples Medical University Hospital in Nawabshah in critical condition where she succumbed to her injuries. She had sustained three bullet wounds.

Only Waqar, who is Zahid's nephew, had previously been accused of shooting her, with the assistance of his father Akhtar and other relatives. While Waqar and Akhtar are still at large, the police have arrested Salma.

Shabana Khokhar, Zahid's wife and the MPA's sister, further alleged that Akhtar was threatening her to remain silent.

According to police sources, Shabana, Aamna and Fatima have all made the same statements to the Naushero Feroze district police, who are investigating the case.

Days before her murder, Ansari had reportedly written a letter to the deputy commissioner and SSP of Naushero Feroze district, asking for protection for herself, her widowed sister and her children from Akhtar, his brothers and his son.

The MPA had claimed that Zahid, who passed away on January 5, had transferred his property to his wife and children while he was still alive.

However, his brothers were reluctant to hand the property over to his widow and their children and were threatening their lives, she had stated.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 20^th, 2020.