Man slays sister, cousin on pretext of honour

Victims had faced panchayat over allegation of infidelity

BAHAWALNAGAR:

A man murdered his sister and a male cousin by slitting their throats with a knife allegedly over suspicion of infidelity.

According to police sources, Azam Shah of Basti Rahmonka slit the throat of his sister Yasmeen, the mother of four children, and cousin Wali Shah, 40, in the Mcleod Ganj area.

The sources said that Azam called his sister and Wali to a place where he attacked them with the knife.

The suspect escaped after the murders.

A spokesman for the district police said a murder case had been registered against Azam and his three brothers on the complaint of Wali's brother Asif Shah.

The bodies were shifted to a hospital for post-mortem and raids conducted to arrest the suspects.

The spokesman said the murdered woman’s husband suspected that she was having an affair with her cousin.

He said the issue had recently been taken up by a panchayat (local jury), which had decided that Wali should publicly announce that the woman was like his sister. The deceased had reportedly agreed to the decision.