Court orders exhumation of newlywed victim's body

A court in Rawalpindi has ordered the exhumation of the 17-year-old newlywed honour killing victim's grave.

The exhumation is scheduled for early morning on Monday, July 28.

Sidra Bibi was allegedly murdered in the name of 'honour' in the Pirwadhai area of Rawalpindi.

Civil Judge Qamar Basit Tarar ordered the exhumation. The judge will personally oversee the process.

The unidentified grave will be located with the help of the arrested gravedigger, the cemetery secretary, and the rickshaw driver who transported the body. Workers from the municipal corporation will carry out the exhumation, while a team of doctors from Holy Family Hospital will conduct the post-mortem.

Three suspects — gravedigger Rashid Mehmood, cemetery secretary Saifullah, and rickshaw driver Khayal Muhammad — have been remanded into police custody for three days. The court has rejected a plea by Sidra's parents to stop the exhumation, stating that the truth can only be revealed through a post-mortem.

Serious charges including murder, desecration of a corpse, and evidence tampering have been added.

According to investigators, Sidra was initially smothered with a pillow and then strangled. Her body was kept in a rickshaw for two hours during heavy rain and buried without a shroud or funeral prayers. Gravedigger Rashid confessed to receiving Rs20,000 to bury her secretly.

Police have named 32 suspects in the case, including tribal council head Ismatullah, the victim's parents Arab Gul and Bafar Bibi, her husband Ziaur Rehman and other family members and tribal elders.

Crucial evidence was recovered from the Pirwadhai cemetery office, including tampered records and surveillance footage showing the body wrapped in plastic.

Police uncover cover-up

Police foiled an attempt of the accused to conceal the gruesome honour killing The Express Tribune investigations revealed that Sidra's body was secretly buried without any legal procedures,

Police have taken the family members, in-laws and others into custody for interrogation and legal action.

According to sources connected to the police investigation, Sidra, the wife of Ziaur Rehman, went missing from her home on July 11 following domestic disputes. Ismatullah, a trader leader from Bara Market, along with Sidra's father Arab Gul and husband Ziaur Rehman, are all relatives.

After Sidra disappeared, her husband and parents suspected she had a connection with a man named Usman. Acting on this suspicion, they went to Usman's house in the same area, but neither he nor Sidra were found there.

On the night of July 16, Ismatullah, Sidra's father, her brother, and others traveled to Muzaffarabad. There, through a jirga and persuasion, they managed to bring Sidra back to Rawalpindi.

Upon her return, a jirga was held at the home of her husband Ziaur Rehman, attended by her father Arab Gul, father-in-law Saleh Muhammad, and other relatives. The jirga was allegedly led by Ismatullah, a trader from Bara Market and a family associate.

In the early hours of July 17, the jirga declared that Sidra had "lost her right to live" by leaving her home without permission. Acting on this verdict, her father, brother, and paternal uncle-in-law reportedly took her into a room and suffocated her to death using a pillow.