With or without you: Couple shoots each other dead

In last statement, man says the two could not live without each other

HARIPUR: When their parents refused to let them tie the knot, a couple decided to fulfil their promise of living and dying together by shooting each other dead on Wednesday.

The incident took place in Sari Pandori village around two kilometres from an Afghan refugee camp. Police quoted Shahbaz, 24, as claiming in his dying statement that he and Kinza, 27, had been in love for some years. He tried several times to marry Kinza, but her parents refused and married her off to another man.

However, they kept meeting occasionally.

When the two reached the conclusion that fate was not in favour of their union, they decided to either commit suicide or kill each other. Police said Shahbaz called Kinza and asked her to meet him on the outskirts of Sari Pandori village. When the two arrived, Shahbaz gave Kinza a pistol and the woman put two bullets into his chest. Subsequently, she handed the gun back to the wounded Shahbaz who shot her in the temple, killing her on the spot.

Doctors at the Women and Children Hospital pronounced Kinza dead on arrival, while Shahbaz succumbed to his injuries after recording his statement. He claimed the two were in love and had fulfilled their promise of dying together. Police has started an investigation.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 11^th, 2015.