Two sisters allegedly murdered in Chichawatni

Two sisters were allegedly shot dead while they were sleeping in their house in the city on Tuesday.

According to the police report, two unidentified assailants managed to escape from the crime scene.

Reportedly, 32-year-old Sumaira Bibi and 25-year-old Pathani Bibi were sleeping in the yard of their house when two unidentified assailants barged into the home. The suspected murderers carried 12-bore guns and 30-bore pistols.

They allegedly shot and killed the two sisters. When the family of the victims woke up to the sound of gunfire, the killers managed to escape by climbing the outer wall.

Zahoor Ahmad Kathia, the father of the slain sisters, had alleged that his ex-son-in-law Noor Mohammad Kathia along with his friend Amin Tharaj were involved in the murder of the daughters.

He told police that his ex-son-in-law in connivance with the accomplice Amin had killed his daughters in retaliation of divorce. “The reason is that my daughter Sumaira was separated from her husband Noor due to domestic violence. After that, the victim was staying with me. My daughter Sumaira had filed a suit for alimony in the local court, which was scheduled to be heard on Tuesday, September 28, 2021.”

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Upon receiving the information, Shahkot police station SHO Muhammad Ijaz Bhatti along with police personnel and forensic van reached the spot, collected evidence and started investigation. Police also rounded up two suspects during the preliminary investigation.

The bodies had been shifted to THQ Hospital for postmortem. It may be recalled that the victim Sumaira was a mother of four children and Pathani Bibi was divorced. Reportedly, the double murder of the two sisters resulted in fear and panic in the village.

Taking notice of the indiscriminate killing of the two sisters in Chichawatni, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar had demanded a report from Sahiwal RPO Malik Ahmed Arsalan and directed that the alleged murderers be held accountable for ensuring speedy delivery of justice to the heirs of the slain.

Incidents of murder were not uncommon in the province.

On May 3, a 26-year-old woman was shot dead by the unidentified suspect(s) at her rented place in Defence.

The victim identified as Maiza Zulfiqar reportedly had returned to Pakistan two months back. Her parents still live in Britain. She had been living with her friends at a rented house.

On the day of the incident, her body was recovered from the upper floor of the house where she used to live. Unidentified suspect(s) barged into her house and shot her dead reportedly in her bedroom. The victim had received a bullet injury in her neck.

On March 3, a woman was strangled to death by her husband and brother in the name of honour in Khurrianwala.

The suspected murderers tied a rope around the victim's neck and strangled her to death. On February 12, a man killed his wife with an axe in Khurrianwala. Reportedly, he kill her out of resentment for not having children. He then dismembered her body and threw it in a nullah.

The murderer himself staged a drama of kidnapping of his wife and reached the police station with a complaint of her abduction. Fauzia Tabassum, 30, was married to Shahid Ehsan, seven years ago.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2021.