Woman loses house, fortune to man she gave shelter to

Magistrate issues non-bailable arrest warrants for suspect

Our Correspondent May 25, 2022

Homeless persons huddle under blankets at a makeshift shelter home set up by the city administration on the orders of the Sindh chief minister. PHOTO: EXPRESS

KARACHI:

A woman in the New Rizvia Society ended up losing a fortune for showing sympathy to a destitute teacher who turned out to be a cheat.

In a stark case of a refugee occupying the host’s estate, complainant Zar Nigar says she gave shelter to Syed Mehdi at her home, but he gobbled up the property and her wealth and evicted her from her own home.

Malir Judicial Magistrate heard the case filed by Zar Nagar. According to the petitioner, in 2009, the accused Syed Mehdi stated that he was an orphan and had the responsibility of five sisters; he requested to hire him as a tuition teacher.

“I felt sympathy for the young man and granted him access to two ground-floor rooms,” she said. “When I sold my ancestral home for Rs50 million in 2015, the accused Mehdi stated that investing the money in a business would be immensely beneficial.”

At the behest of his brother-in-law, the accused Mehdi opened joint accounts in three different banks, and in the meantime, the accused purchased property and vehicles.

The accused Mehdi and his brother-in-law took over all of the properties and threatened to kill me. I took shelter at a friend’s home to save my life. I request the court to get me back my property and money, as well as punish the guilty under the law. Judicial Magistrate Malir Adeel Ahmed issued non-bailable warrants for the accused Syed Mehdi Rizvi, Syed Imran, and others. The court directed the investigating officer to arrest the accused and present them on May 25.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2022.