Ex-husband confesses to killing Pakistani-American

Rizwan abducted Wajiha Swati from Rawalpindi and murdered her in DI Khan, say police sources

RAWALPINDI:

Former husband of Wajiha Swati, a United States citizen of Pakistani origin, has confessed to killing her upon her arrival in the country earlier this year, The Express Tribune learnt on Saturday.

Police sources privy to the development said the suspect, Rizwan Habib, has been taken into custody and is currently on a four-day physical remand after he was produced in a local court.

They said that the suspect had buried the body of his ex-wife after killing her in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's Dera Ismail Khan district.

Read more: US embassy ‘shares information’ with police about ‘kidnapped’ woman

Wajiha Swati was allegedly abducted on October 16. A case was registered at the Morgah Police Station in Rawalpindi on a complaint of her eldest son Abdullah Mehdi, who is based in the US. In the FIR, Rizwan was nominated as the prime suspect.

A police officer told The Express Tribune that Wajiha Swati went missing on October 16 and her cell phone went off immediately after that.

The police official said they also tried to trace the number provided by the attorney of the plaintiff. However, it was later found that she never used that number in Pakistan.

According to the information provided by the victim’s family, Rizwan and Wajiha had separated but the accused claimed that he had not divorced his wife.

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The police said that they did not arrest the accused for two months because he fully cooperated with the investigation team and came to the police station whenever called for questioning. The police said that the woman had come to Pakistan with her nephew Ayan Khan via Britain.

According to the police, there was also a property dispute between Rizwan and Wajiha, which has also been made part of the investigation.

On Wednesday, the US embassy officials met with Rawalpindi City Police Officer (CCPO) Sajid Kayani and Senior Superintendent of Police (Investigation) Syed Ghazanfar Abbas to discuss the case. The police officials shared with the embassy officials the progress made so far in the investigation.

Sources said that the US embassy officials had shared some important information related to the case with the police.