Six jailed in Sidra murder case

Duty Civil Judge Zeeshan Butt has rejected police's request for a further three-day physical remand of six suspects in the murder of Sidra Bibi, allegedly killed on the orders of a jirga in the name of honour.

All six have been sent on a 14-day judicial remand to Adiala Jail.

The court also ordered the police investigation team to produce the suspects along with the case challan on August 23.

Jirga head Ismatullah Khan was also remanded to jail in separate cases of illegal weapon possession and the victim's alleged abduction from Muzaffarabad.

Defence lawyers argued that police had seized various items, including a loader rickshaw and DVR, but had yet to present the post-mortem report or definitive evidence linking the accused to the murder.

They claimed the CCTV footage obtained from the jirga leader's house showed no proof of a jirga being held.

Police have now added kidnapping charges after suspects admitted to abducting Sidra Bibi from Kashmir before her killing. The jirga head has already confessed to bringing the victim from Kashmir and burying her in Pirwadhai cemetery.

On the suspects' identification, police recovered the victim's bag and mobile phone.

The kidnapping case, originally filed by Sidra's former husband Ziaur Rehman, has been amended, and he has now been named as a suspect in both the kidnapping and murder cases. Police have also begun legal proceedings against him for allegedly filing a false report.

A major development occurred in the murder case of 21-year-old Sidra Bibi as the jirga leader who ordered the murder has confessed to his role in the crime.

The investigation team recovered the Kalashnikov used in the crime from the residence of Ismatullah Khan, the head of the jirga who issued the so-called fatwa for the murder. During interrogation, Ismatullah confessed that he, along with others, stormed the house of Sidra's second husband, Usman, in Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir.

They held the occupants hostage at gunpoint, forcibly took Sidra from a locked room, and brought her back to Rawalpindi, where she was killed. He admitted that the killing was carried out in his presence, as he had issued the order in the jirga.

Sidra's father, Arab Gul, her paternal uncle, brother, and first husband also participated in the killing. Ismatullah expressed regret during questioning, asking for forgiveness.

Following his confession, the police recovered the weapon from a locked room in his house.

A separate case has been registered for illegal possession of the weapon. The court has granted additional physical remand for Ismatullah.