Police submit challan in Wajiha Swati murder case

Sessions judge summons all six accused for start of trial on March 19

RAWALPINDI:

Morgah police have formally submitted challan in the murder case of US-Pakistani woman Wajiha Swati.

Senior civil judge Gaddafi bin Zayer approved the challan and sent it to the district and sessions judge to start trial against the six arrested suspects.

The sessions judge has issued notices to all accused in the case and summoned them from Adiala jail on March 19.

Morgah police have declared Rizwan Habib, the ex-husband of the victim, as the main culprit in the challan.

The prosecution has appealed that all the six accused should be declared guilty and sentenced to death. American woman, Wajiha Swati was kidnapped and later killed after she reached Pakistan on October 17 last year.

Read: Police investigations set for major revamp

The ex-husband had brutally killed the woman over a property dispute and buried her body in a village in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

After the arrest of the accused, the body was also recovered by the police while the murder weapon was also recovered.

Meanwhile, all 142 closed-circuit cameras installed at the Judicial Complex Rawalpindi have been fully activated.

The security system works round the clock. Female and male court officials and bailiffs staff are also strictly bound to come to court in regular uniforms daily. Benches on the premises have also been repaired.

Tree planting has also been started in the Judicial Complex and different types of fruit and flower plants are being planted on the premises.

The parking system has also been upgraded and the complex’s exterior wall has been expanded.

Facilities have been provided to the complainants in the facility centres, while estranged families have been provided special facilities for meeting their children.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2022.