Mystery resolved: Missing woman’s body found after three years

Investigation reveals her husband had strangled her after a fight.

JHELUM:

After three years of waiting for Riffat Parveen to return home, the identification of her body has dashed her family’s hopes, while offering a sense of closure: she isn’t missing anymore.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, District Police Officer Tayyab Hafeez Khan said the police have recovered the missing woman’s body and arrested her murderer.

A resident of Gujjar village in Pind Dadan Khan tehsil, Riffat, 28, went missing from Jhelum on July 4, 2009.

Her family then lodged an abduction case against her husband Junaid and his brothers Tajamal and Muzammil, who were arrested from the tehsil.

However, they were released as the investigation officer could not find any evidence against them and the case was closed after the police failed to trace her.

Her family then filed an application with the Supreme Court’s Human Rights Cell, following which the chief justice directed the inspector general of Punjab police to present the missing woman in court.

He also ordered a district and sessions judge in Jhelum to check the proceedings after every 15 days.

A special investigating team was constituted under Superintendent of Police Syed Haseeb Shah, which submitted its report to the Supreme Court.

The report stated that Junaid, a teacher at a college in Chakwal, had killed Riffat after getting into a fight with her.

The investigation team found out that Junaid was having an affair with one of his students, after which his call records were traced and he was once again taken into custody for investigations.

During the investigation, Junaid admitted to having killed Riffat after a fight with her when he had taken her out to Mangla Dam. He said he strangled her and dumped her body into the canal, according to the investigation officer.

Five days after the incident, Riffat’s body was spotted by locals, who informed the Mangla police in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The police, however, handed over the body to Edhi Foundation for burial instead of conducting an autopsy or making an effort to trace her heirs.

Meanwhile, her family kept looking for her, hoping that she would return home safely one day.

After recording Junaid’s statement, Riffat’s body was dug out from Mirpur on April 25 and taken to District Headquarters Hospital Jhelum for autopsy. The body has been handed over to her family for burial.

The alleged murderer was also presented during the press conference, while the DPO announced a cash prize of Rs25,000 and certificates for the investigation team.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 28^th, 2012.