Suicide or murder?: Man burned ‘by in-laws’ passes away

Two of the three suspects arrested.

MULTAN:

A 25-year-old man died at the Nishtar Hospital’s burn unit on Tuesday, 24 hours after he was burned allegedly by his in-laws. Doctors said he had more than 80 burns.

Qutabpur police said his mother-in-law and brother-in-law were arrested shortly after he died. However, the father-in-law was still at large.

Those arrested have denied the allegations and said that he had commited suicide while visiting their house.

Police said a man, a resident of Daira Colony, had married his girlfriend from the neighbourhood a year ago.

They said since the girl’s family had not approved of the marriage, they had stopped meeting the couple. However, a few months later, relationship between Iqra and her family improved.



Police said Miraaj stopped her from meeting her parents, but she did not listen to him.

Things between the couple got worse when she started visiting them and finally sought a divorce two months ago. She also started living at her parents’ house.

Police said the man’s family had told them that he recently discovered that his wife was pregnant, he visited her and tried to bring her back, but she refused to return.

On Monday, he was visiting his in-laws again, when following an argument, his mother-in-law, father-in-law and brother-in-law set fire to his clothes and staged the incident as an attempt to suicide.

He was taken to the hospital, where police recorded his statement.

Police quoted him as saying that they (suspects) had tied his hands and feet, threw petrol at him and set him on fire.

Cantonment DSP Muhammad Saleem told The Express Tribune that a police team was looking for the girl’s father.

He said they were investigating the claim that the man had committed suicide after negotiations with his in-laws failed.

He said the body had been sent for a post-mortem examination.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 24^th, 2013.