Woman’s grave allegedly set on fire by former son-in-law

A horrific incident took place in Chobara Tehsil of Layyah in which a man allegedly desecrated the grave of his ex-mother-in-law to avenge his ex-wife's refusal for remarriage.

The suspect allegedly poured petrol on the grave of his mother-in-law, set it on fire and escaped.

According to sources, the accused had divorced Asma Bibi four years ago. Later, he had had a change of heart and started thinking about marrying her again.

Upon refusal from the woman for remarriage, the prime accused, Yahya alias Pappu, lost his temper and set the grave of his mother-in-law on fire.

Police registered a case against two accused and managed to arrest one of them, Ramzan. The main accused was still at large.

According to the FIR, both accused are brothers. Last month, offences of desecration of graves of a two-year-old baby girl and a 20-year-old woman had sent shock waves across the districts of Okara and Gujrat respectively.

According to Okara DPO Faisal Gulzar, Zainab, a two-year-old daughter of Malik Yasir, a resident of Sher Rabbani Town, had died a week ago and was buried in the local Ghore Shah graveyard.

When the baby girl's father Yasir went to the graveyard the day after the burial, he found the grave desecrated.

Meanwhile, other members of Yasir's family also reached the spot. When the dust was removed from the grave, the shroud of the deceased was found to be missing, and the miscreant had put lipstick on the baby’s face.

The grief-stricken family arrived at the conclusion that the baby’s body had been taken out of the grave by someone for witchcraft.

They immediately reported the matter to the police.

On the orders of DPO, police had arrested two accused allegedly involved in the incident and registered a case.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18^th, 2022.