Girl thrown into canal over marriage dispute

Rescue teams continue search for missing girl 30 hours after incident

BHAKKAR:

A young woman was thrown into a canal by her father and brother, allegedly as a result of her desire to marry her chosen partner.

The police have registered a case against the father and brother after a rescue operation failed to find the missing girl.

The victim, a resident of the 6 TDA area in the vicinity of Darya Khan Tehsil, Bhakkar, was identified as (H), a young woman who had been wanting to marry a person of her own choice.

Her father, Akhtar, a father of six children (two daughters and four sons), informed Rescue 1122 that his daughter had been suffering from a toothache and was on her way to Darya Khan Hospital with her brother and father when their motorcycle slipped on the sand.

He claimed that both he and his daughter fell into the canal, but he was able to escape while his daughter drowned.

However, upon investigation, police found no evidence to support the claim that the motorcycle had slipped.

Police became suspicious and detained Akhtar and his son, Farhan, for questioning.

Further inquiries revealed that the woman, (H), had been in conflict with her father and brother over her wish to marry her chosen partner. It was revealed that the father and brother had jointly thrown her into the canal, staging the incident as an accident.

The police were alerted when the father himself reported the "incident" to the emergency services. Upon arrival, authorities were immediately suspicious of the circumstances, prompting a full investigation.

After a few hours of questioning and investigation, Akhtar admitted to his crime. He confessed to throwing his daughter into the canal, ending her life because he did not approve of her choice of partner.

District Police Officer (DPO) Bhakkar, Shehzad Rafiq Awan, shared details of the tragic case with Daily Tribune, confirming that the father had killed his daughter by pushing her into the canal.

He explained that Akhtar had not accepted his daughter's desire to marry a man of her choosing, and in an act of anger, he murdered her.

The DPO emphasized that the police swiftly acted on the case, leading to Akhtar's arrest within hours. The police were able to solve the case through professional capabilities and human intelligence, and Akhtar has confessed to the crime.

Authorities are now preparing a strong case for his conviction.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Ashraf took immediate notice of the incident and visited the site near Darya Khan Qureshian Wala. Rescue teams, led by District Emergency Officer Engineer Obaidullah Khan, had been searching for the missing woman since the incident occurred.

Despite 30 hours of search efforts, her body had not yet been located.