A woman was strangled to death by her father and brother in Keamari Town’s Bhatta village on Monday because “she wished to marry one of her brothers-in-law”.
Twenty-two-year-old Farzana’s body was taken to the Civil Hospital Karachi, where her post-mortem examination confirmed that she was strangled to death.
SSP (City) Adeel Hussain Chandio told The News that the victim’s family had initially attempted to cover up the murder by claiming that she had committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling fan.
“However, the autopsy report confirmed that she was strangled to death. When the police questioned the victim’s father and brother, they confessed to murdering her.”
SSP Chandio said the police had arrested the father, Ghulam Nabi, and the brother, Nabeel, and registered a case against them.
Keamari SP Arif Aziz said the victim’s family was trying to hide the murder.
“An elected representative of the area informed the police about this case. The victim’s family was going to perform her last rites without completing any legal formality.”
He said that on receiving the information from the elected representative, a team of Jackson police reached the victim’s house and stopped them from performing her last rites without a post-mortem examination.
“The victim’s family tried to stop the police from conducting an autopsy, but the law enforcers managed to take her body to the hospital.”
When the police came to know about her cause of death in the initial post-mortem report, the police grilled the father and brother, who admitted to strangling the woman to death.
“Farzana’s father claimed that she wanted to marry one of her brothers-in-law. The father said in his police statement that the victim’s three sisters were married in the same family and that she wanted to marry one of her sister’s husband.”
The father said his family tried to make the woman understand that she was going to upset the lives of all her sisters, but she refused to let go of her demand.
“On Sunday night, she warned us that she would elope with her brother-in-law if any of her family members tried to create an obstacle in their marriage.”
SP Aziz said the father confessed that he and his son Nabeel strangled Farzana to death to “protect the marriages of his three other daughters”.
Jackson police station’s SHO, Inspector Shaoor Khan, said the police had registered FIR No 234/17 under Section 302/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code on behalf of the state against Ghulam Nabi and Nabeel.
