Murder of social worker: Police to produce victim’s husband in court on Monday

Another case was registered against Sahiba’s murder for possessing an illegal weapon.

SUKKUR:

Suspect Ali Mohammad Mirani, who has been accused of killing his wife, Sahiba Mirani, will be produced in court on Monday.

Sahiba, a social worker in Ghotki, was allegedly murdered by her husband on the evening of September 20. Soon after, Ali was arrested and produced in court, which remanded him in police custody for 11 days and three days in jail custody.

The investigation officer, Hafiz Abdul Ghaffar Chachar, told The Express Tribune that the police had found the murder weapon and a separate case has been registered against the accused for possessing an illegal weapon. According to him, all the evidence was pointing towards Ali as the murderer.

“On the day of the murder, Ali was the one who picked Sahiba up from her office and just half an hour later, she was murdered,” said Chachar.

“The suspect is trying to malign Sahiba’s character, so that it is considered an act of karo-kari but he is wrong. In our society, men can’t tolerate educated women. Sahiba has completed her Masters whereas everybody else in her family had only studied up to the second or third grade.”

The Ghotki police have registered two FIRs against Ali - one has been registered under sections 302 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code and the second has been registered under section 24 of the Sindh Arms Control.

Sahiba’s murder has created fear among the female workers in the area, who along with members of the civil society and other social activists have been staging protests to punish the culprits.

They also expressed their reservations about the investigation which was earlier being carried out by officer Gul Mohammad Abro and was later assigned to Hafiz Abdul Qadir Chachar.

Takhleeq Foundation’s Ghotki in-charge, Sania Rasheed, told The Express Tribune that she was hopeful that justice would be served in Sahiba’s murder case. “She was our colleague and a very simple woman who was always busy in social work,” she said.

“We are closely monitoring the investigation and as the senior officers have promised us justice, we are just waiting for the police to complete their job.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6^th, 2013.