Murdered girl’s family protest, police retaliate with batons and tear gas

Relatives demand arrest of killers, blame police for letting the suspects roam free.

KARACHI: Family and neighbours of 19-year-old Quratul Ain, who was killed on Friday, continued to protest on Sunday because the suspects responsible for killing her have not been arrested yet.

Quratul Ain was murdered in Manzoor Colony on Friday night when three men from the neighbourhood broke into her house. They wanted to kill her brother, Jehanzaib alias Tipu, who had had a brawl with them earlier. Salman alias Ada, Faizi and Wadood opened fire at Jehanzaib but Quratul Ain stepped in to save her brother’s life. She took two bullets in the chest and died.

On Sunday, keeping Quratul Ain’s body in an ambulance, the protesters staged a sit-in at the Expressway and burnt tyres. The rioting suspended traffic for six hours. Police and Rangers personnel asked the protesters to disperse and when they refused, the law enforcement agencies resorted to baton charge, tear gas and aerial firing. Several of the protesting women and children fainted because of the gas.

Several protesters pelted stones at security officials.

The affected protesters were taken to hospitals. After the protest finally ended, the Expressway opened for traffic. A heavy contingent of police and Rangers is deployed at the road to prevent any untoward incidents.

Jehanzaib told Daily Express that the three suspects are roaming free in the area while the police has not been able to arrest them yet. The two men arrested are being treated as ‘guests’ in the prison. “They’re serving them samosas and tea,” he claimed.

He said they keep Quratul Ain’s body in the morgue during the night and bring it out in the day to protest. “We will not bury her till her murderers have been arrested,” he vowed. Jehanzaib also claimed the suspects were affiliated with a political party, which is why they were not being arrested.

Search for suspects

Security officials raided houses in Mehmoodabad to look for suspects. The police took Jehanzaib with them in an effort to assuage the family’s fears that the police were not trying to arrest the criminals responsible for the murder.

SHO Baloch Colony said that when none of the suspects were found, they took into custody Salman’s brother, excise police ASI Rao Rehan and Wadood’s father. He said both detained men will be dealt with strictly.

But, he added, they could not meet all of the family’s demands, since the family wanted the suspects to be presented in front of them and stripped and photographed by the media.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8^th, 2010.