Honour killing?: Family of three strangled

Tassawar and Sayyeda had married 18 months ago without permission from their families.

RAWALPINDI: A family of three was brutally murdered on Sunday in Pirwadhai, Rawalpindi.

Tassawar Hussain, a resident of Mandi Bahauddin, his wife Sayyeda, and seven-month-old baby girl were strangled, police said.

The police believe the three were killed because Hussain and Sayyeda had gotten married about 18 months ago without getting permission from their families.

Sayyeda’s family had registered an FIR against Hussain for kidnapping her, police said.

However, the case was dropped once Sayyeda recorded her statement, saying that she had married Hussain of her own volition.

The two moved from Mandi Bahauddin to Rawalpindi, where Hussain used to work as a labourer. The family had moved to their current residence in Fauji Colony about a month and a half back, police said.

Their bodies were found on Sunday morning in their home. All three had been strangled.

The police also found dinnerware near the bodies and sent it to a laboratory for chemical analysis.

An investigation officer told The Express Tribune that they believe the three might have been drugged before they were murdered.

Allah Ditta, Husain’s brother, nominated Sayyeda’s brother as the prime suspect in the murder case.

He said that her family was extremely angry with her over the marriage.

After she moved to Rawalpindi, her brother tracked her number down and contacted her. The family made up, after which he would visit her often.

Allah Ditta said that he visited the family on Saturday night. Sayyeda’s brother was there.

Two of her uncles were also visiting the family that night, he added, but were out of the house at the time he was here.

Pirwadhai police Inspector Malik Irshad said they had sent the bodies for post-mortem and had registered a case.

He refused to add anything else, saying that the investigation is still ongoing.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 21^st, 2013.