Family protests with dead body outside press club

The family members of a victim who was shot dead allegedly upon refusing to marry a man named Qasim staged a sit-in with the body outside the Rawalpindi Press Club on Monday.

The deceased was already married and had two children, a police spokesperson shared.

The victim, Uzma, was undergoing treatment at the Benazir Bhutto Hospital for over a week where she finally succumbed to her wounds on Monday. The protesting members of the family demanded justice from the authorities and appealed to the Prime Minister Imran Khan for speedy arrest of the culprit.

According to the victim’s relatives, Qasim, shot Uzma on January 30 when she was going to drop her children to tuition after which she was shifted to BBH for treatment. Qaiser, the husband of the victim, who was present at the protest, said that he had been visiting the Sadiqabad police station after the incident but the police have not made any effort to arrest the suspect.

The victim's mother told media that her daughter was already married and was a mother of two children, but the suspect kept insisting her to divorce her husband and on persistent refusal, he shot her. She added that she had complained to the culprit’s family about his behaviour as well but no heed was paid towards it.

The protesters said that the police had also recorded a video statement of Uzma before her death but still has not taken any legal action against the suspect.

Therefore, they demanded Prime Minister Imran Khan and Punjab Police Inspector General (IG) Inam Ghani to ensure justice.

On the other hand, Sadiqabad police officials said that a case of attempted murder under Section 302 had already been registered against the suspect and all efforts were being made to apprehend the accused.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 9^th, 2021.