Arsonists kill seven of a family

Man accuses in-laws of killing wife, son, five others over free-will marriage

MUZAFFARGARH:

Seven people, including four children, were killed after their house was set on fire allegedly by the relatives of a woman who had married a member of the family of her own will.

The woman and her four-month-old son were among the victims of the arson attack in the Pir Jahanian area. However, her husband escaped the attack because he was not preset in the house at the time.

Police officials said they had seized a can of petrol used to set the house on fire, shifted the bodies to a hospital for postmortem and registered case on the complaint of the woman’s husband Meboob. The complainant’s father-in-law and brother-in-law were nominated in the murder case. Punjab Chief Minister Usman Bazdar also took notice of the incident vowed to ensure justice.

Mehboob alias Kala, a resident of Pir Jahanian in Muzaffargarh district, had married to Fauzia Bibi, about one and a half years ago in the Mahira area of Rohilanwali. The woman father Manzoor Hussain and brothers Nawaz and Sabir were reportedly upset over the marriage.

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They allegedly sprayed petrol on the house of Mehboob, set it on fire and fled the scene.

Rescue 1122 staff dowsed the after an hour's efforts.

According to rescue workers, there were seven people in the house and all of them died after their entire bodies were burnt. The dead included four children and two women. The children who died in the incident were aged four months to 12 years.

The deceased were identified as Mehboob’s wife Fauzia Bibi, 18, and her four-month-old son Ahmed, brother Farooq, 32, sister-in-law Khurshid Mai, 28, and nephews Shah Nawaz, 12, Sarfraz, nine, Yaqub, aged two.

The bodies were taken to the Muzaffargarh District Headquarters Hospital for postmortem. Mehboob said he had remained safe because he was not home at the time.

He told the police that he had been receiving threats and the seven members of his family had been burnt to death in the night by his in-laws.

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Civil Lines police registered a case against the complainant’s father-in-law Manzoor and brother-in-law Sabir under Section 302 and on charges of damaging the house by setting fire to it.

The Chief Minister’s Adviser Sardar Abdul Hai Dasti, Assistant Commissioner Dr Abida Farid and District Police Officer (DPO) Hassan Iqbal visited the bereaved family, expressed sympathy with it and assured it of legal support.

Earlier this month a newly married man, Nauman, who had contracted a love marriage, was kidnapped by members of the girl’s family who stormed the judicial complex Jheka Gali from the court premises in Murree after he along with his bride showed up for the court hearing, seeking the quashment on an FIR, lodged by the girl’s family.

The police had foiled their attempt to kidnap the girl. The couple had solemnised a freewill marriage, however, the girl’s family was against it and had lodged a kidnapping case.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 18^th, 2021.