Woman dies after 'blackmail, assault'

Jeweller, accomplices accused of using videos to extort money from married victim

RAWALPINDI:

A horrifying incident has come to light in the jurisdiction of Gujar Khan Police Station, where a married woman was allegedly blackmailed and sexually assaulted by a local jeweller and his associate over a financial dispute involving jewellery worth millions of rupees. The woman later died under mysterious circumstances after reportedly consuming poison. Police said shocking videos and other incriminating evidence have been recovered from her mobile phone.

According to police, the case was registered on the complaint of Shiraz Aftab, a resident of Gujar Khan, who stated that he lived with his wife, father, and 11-year-old daughter. He told the police that jeweller Adil, owner of Talha Jewellers, had been making jewellery for their family for several years and had developed personal relations with his wife without his knowledge.

"One day, while I was at home, my wife suddenly fell ill and began vomiting. She said she no longer wanted to live and that she had been poisoned," the complainant said. He immediately called Rescue 1122, which shifted her to the hospital. Before dying, the woman told her husband that the evidence was saved in her mobile phone.

In her statement, the woman alleged that Adil from Talha Jewellers deceived her into handing over wedding jewellery and other ornaments—about 40 tolas in total. He later introduced her to another man named Moosa, who took the jewellery and promised repayment. When she repeatedly demanded her jewellery back, Adil took her to Mobilink Finance Bank and introduced her to a bank employee, Jawad. Together, they allegedly mortgaged her jewellery—worth around Rs15 million—in her name and took a loan.

The victim's husband said the accused then began blackmailing his wife, demanding Rs400,000 and threatening to call the police or harm her husband if she refused. "They kept extorting money from her under the guise of interest and blackmail, and when she ran out of money, they repeatedly raped her," he alleged.

The complainant added that the men used to visit the house when he and his father were at work, and sometimes called his wife out of the house. "We are businessmen. There is no possibility that she had access to poison such as wheat-preserving tablets in our home," he said, claiming that the accused either gave her the poison or forced her to consume it.

He further said his wife remained silent due to fear, social pressure, and concern for her family's honour, but in her final moments, she revealed everything. "These men destroyed a peaceful family," he lamented.

The woman's video statement recorded in critical condition also surfaced, in which she named the jeweller and his accomplices as responsible for her ordeal and death.