Not a snake bite: Wife accused of plotting husband’s murder

Autopsy disproves claim that he died from snake bite, says he was strangled.

MULTAN: Chishtian police have registered a case against a woman for allegedly killing her husband in collusion with her paramour.

The police have yet to arrest her as she has been granted a bail before arrest from a court till July 2.

However, the police have arrested a snake charmer who says he was paid by Attiqur Rehman, a resident of Mehboob Colony, to let a snake loose on a man, Muhammad Iqbal, in his sleep. He said he had received Rs50,000 for the job. The police have recovered Rs35,000 from him.

The FIR was registered after the autopsy on Iqbal, found killed at his home on April 12, rejected the claim that he died from a snake bite.

The report, prepared by Chishtian tehsil headquarters (THQ) hospital medical superintendent Dr Muhammad Saleem on June 2, stated that Iqbal was strangled. It said he was already dead when the snake bit him.

Iqbal’s wife Abida Iqbal had claimed that her husband was bitten by a snake in his sleep.

The FIR registered on the complaint of Zaheer Chohan, brother of the deceased, accused the woman of plotting the murder in collusion with Attiqur Rahman. It said the two suspects had wanted to get married. “They strangled him and later called a snake charmer to make it look like he died from a snake bite in his sleep,” it said. Chohan said his brother and Abida Iqbal married 10 years ago. He said the latter had agreed to the marriage under pressure from her parents. “She had wanted to marry Rahman, a colleague, but was not allowed by her family,” he said.

Yasin malik, a neighbor, said he and some other neighbours had rushed to Iqbal’s house on hearing his wife’s cries for help. He said he had found Iqbal lying dead in his bed with a snake bite wound.

Muhammad Zafar was another witness to the scene. SHO Chaudary Yousuf said police teams were carrying out raids to arrest Rahman. He said he had not requested the court to cancel Abida Iqbal’s bail as he felt her paramour was the main culprit. He said the woman had been barred from leaving the district. He said she would be arrested as soon as her bail term was over. “We can call her for interrogation whenever we want,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18^th, 2012.