Day: July 15, 2012

LAHORE: A 23-year-old girl was stabbed to death during a scuffle among her three male friends in the Garden Town police area late on Friday.

The deceased was identified as Noorul Sabah a resident of Joray Pull. After doing her BA (Honours) from the Forman Christian College University, Sabah was working as a marketing employee in a local company at Metro Plaza in Garden Town.

Investigation Officer ASI Muhammad Khan said three years ago, Sabah had developed illicit relations with Farhan, a car dealer from a rich family. “She was also in relationship with two other well-off boys Ahmed and Nadeem.’’

The investigation officer said Sabah met Farhan three days ago and developed differences with him over an issue. She asked Ahmed and Nadeem to tackle Farhan because he was harassing her with text messages and phone calls.
“At 11:30pm, Sabah visited Farhan at Aurangzeb Block in Garden Town along with Ahmed and Nadeem. The boys stabbed her after coming to know that the girl was flirting with them,” he disclosed.
Khan said Farhan shifted her to the Jinnah Hospital where she died. On this, he attempted to flee but the police and the hospital administration apprehended him.

Sabah’s father Muhammad Siddique Asghar said his daughter was working with a marketing company in Garden Town. He alleged that Farhan, Nadeem and Ahmed had killed her.

“Sabah phoned her family at 10:30pm and told them that she was coming back to home. “Later, we called her at 11:25pm but did not get any response,” said Asghar, adding the police informed them that she was killed under mysterious circumstances.

He made an appeal to authorities concerned to bring the culprits to book. Later, the body was shifted to morgue for autopsy. Police have registered a case against the three boys and started investigation.

The Nation

QUETTA: A man shot dead his sister and another man on the pretext of illicit relations in Dhadar area of Bolan District on Saturday.

According to a Balochistan Levies official, Abdul Fateh sprayed his sister and another man Barkat Ali with bullets accusing them having illicit relations.

Abdul Fateh escaped from the scene after committing the double murder. The official rushed to the spot soon after the incident. The bodies were taken to a nearby government hospital for autopsy.

The Levies officials have registered a case and mounted a search in the area for the arrest of the killer.

Daily Times

By: Owais Jafri

MULTAN: The police on Saturday registered an FIR at the Kacha Khu police station against a man for burying his newborn daughter alive.

Chaand Khan admitted to committing the harrowing murder a day after killing his two-day-old daughter for not “liking her looks.” The FIR was registered following an application by Muhammad Aslam, a resident of the Kacha Khu area in Khanewal, who is also the local official in-charge of revenue collection.

The grave of the infant will be excavated on Monday, in the presence of police officials and residents of the area, particularly the deceased child’s mother, on the orders of a Khanewal sessions court judge, Justice karam Elahi.

The victim’s uncle, Laal Khan, and brother, Shehbaz, are also among the accused but have been released by the police. The child’s mother Rubeena, who still was at the hospital at the time of the murder, has also been discharged.

Chaand Khan appeared to be quite nonchalant while talking to The Express Tribune. “I would have been dishonoured if I had let her live. People would have definitely asked me why the baby had such an ugly face and that I should ask my wife the reason. As a result, I buried her alive.” Residents of the area are outraged and have demanded the police to severely reprimand the offender. The police, however, said they will let the law take its course

The Express Tribune

By: Asad Zia

JAMRUD: The murder of rights activist Farida Afridi in Khyber Agency has driven the already dwindling number of female social workers in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) towards more uncertainty.

Afridi, who was a founding member of the Society for Appraisal and Women Empowerment in Rural Areas (SAWERA), was shot dead by unidentified assailants on July 4 near her residence when she was on her way to work.

A technical adviser at SAWERA said that routine work has stopped since the murder, as women staff members are too frightened to come to the office.

A friend of Afridi’s, who was also working for SAWERA, quit soon after the murder. She said her parents refused to let her go out and she could not even complete her master’s degree. “The number of educated females in Fata is really low and if such brutal acts continue, the future of our women will be really dark,” she said.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have urged the government to take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of social workers, particularly in Fata, where about 37 local NGOs are operating presently.

Project coordinator of the Community Appraisal and Motivation Programme Syed Afzal Shinwari claimed the government has failed to protect people and is not interested in preventing such incidents.

Executive Director of Aware Girls Saba Ismail vowed to raise her voice against the “tyranny of anti-state elements that have been given a free hand to kill civilians.”

“People from tribal areas are more conservative and we cannot change their point-of-view in one night. We will need to struggle and try our best to make it possible,” she said.

Programme Manager at Aurat Foundation Shireen Javed also said the murder will not dampen their desire to bring about change. “We will not let anti-state actors think they have won.”

Afridi was not your average woman from the area. She opted for higher education despite being raised in an impoverished village amid the craggy defiles of Khyber Pass. After completing her education, she chose to serve tribal women and fight for their rights.

Afridi’s village near the Ghundi area of Jamrud Tehsil lacks basic facilities and has no schools for either boys or girls, who have to travel to nearby villages to receive an education. Afridi became the first woman from her village to complete her masters.

Her 70-year-old father, Sherzada Khan, told The Express Tribune that his daughter never spoke of any threats. “She did not discuss the threats with me or anyone else.” He added that no one has claimed responsibility for the murder as yet.

While her father maintained he did not know how much she used to earn, he said most of her income was spent on welfare work and the rest on educating her siblings.

Last year in December, another well-known activist, Zarteef Khan Afridi, was also killed. Militant group Abdullah Azam Brigade claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Express Tribune

SAHIWAL: The self-acclaimed spiritual healer, who killed a 12-year-old girl at Chak 114/12-L, on Saturday got interim bail.

Pir Shaukat of 21/14-L was nominated in murder FIR (114/12) and the Kasowal police raided various places to arrest him after he tortured Manzoor’s daughter Salma Bibi to death on the pretext of ridding her of evil spirits.

Steeped in ignorance, the girl’s parents witnessed the tragedy and defended Shaukat’s brutality because of their blind belief in the occult.

The Chichawatni THQ Hospital confirmed torture and the autopsy report revealed the girl had died due to “broken neck”.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Shakir granted bail to the accused

Dawn