Nine indicted in Sidra murder case

Pirwadhai police submitted Thursday the charge sheet in court in the harrowing honour killing case of 17-year-old Sidra Bibi, who was strangled to death and callously buried in a pit.

The challan names her father, brother, mother, sisters, first husband, father-in-law (who presided over the jirga), the gravedigger, the cemetery secretary, and the rickshaw driver who transported the concealed body to the graveyard in torrential rain. All nine arrested suspects have been charged with murder, with the prosecution formally requesting the death penalty for each.

According to the charge sheet, nine suspects are currently in custody, while a further 18, including female relatives (mother, sisters, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law), have been declared absconders. Permanent arrest warrants have been issued against them.

The document also incorporates the findings of the medical board and forensic laboratory, which concluded that Sidra Bibi was strangled. These conclusions were reached following the exhumation of the body, when tissue samples were taken from various organs. Police have also presented as case property the pillow used in the killing, the bed sheet, and the loader rickshaw used to transport the body from the house to the cemetery.

Among those declared proclaimed offenders are the victim's mother, two sisters, sister-in-law, and mother-in-law. Those held in Adiala Jail include her father Arab Gul, brother Zafar Khan, first husband Ziaur Rehman, father-in-law Saleem Gul, uncle Mani Gul, jirga leader and senior PML-N figure as well as former vice chairman of the union council Ismatullah Khan, gravedigger Rashid, cemetery secretary Saifur Rehman, and rickshaw driver Khayal Muhammad.

The District Prosecutor's Office has deemed the challan fit for trial and submitted it before the District and Sessions Judge, Rawalpindi.