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Honour killing: ‘Police exploitation provoked murder’

By Arsalan Altaf

ISLAMABAD: The family of a man, who admitted to killing his 15-year-old daughter for ‘honour’, has claimed that weeks of exploitation at the hands of the police led him to commit the murder.

Ijaz Ahmad, the murder suspect, had called police after he strangled his daughter to death in their house in Golra on March 28 and turned himself in. Initially, the police and family had called the murder an honour killing because the girl was said to be in a relationship with a boy from the neighbourhood. However, the family is now claiming that alleged police mistreatment and exploitation of Ahmad led him to kill his daughter.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, members of Ahmad’s family said that on March 6, an 18-year-old boy, identified as Alauddin, had broken into their house just before midnight and tried to sexually assault the girl. The family heard her cries and rescued her. Ahmad’s family further said that Alauddin was chased and caught. But the boy’s family, who lived next door, managed to free him. Following this, Ahmad dialled the 15 emergency number and sought police help. The next day, Golra police booked Alauddin for trespass and attacking the girl but he obtained pre-arrest bail from a sessions court, the family claimed.

They claimed that Sub-inspector Muhammad Zameer, the investigation officer in the March 6 case, purchased 100kg beef from Ahmad, who ran a butcher’s shop in Golra, saying the meat was for SSP sahib and he would pay the next day. But, Zameer allegedly refused to pay later, and said it was the ‘price’ for the case they lodged against Alauddin.

Furthermore, the family claimed that SI Zameer, as well as the reconciliatory committee at the Golra police station tried to pressure them into making an out-of-court settlement with the suspect. “He told us that the suspect had provided him audio and video tapes of the girl and tried to blackmail us,” the victim’s uncle said.

According to the family, Ahmad struggled to get justice over the next three weeks while allegedly police favoured the suspects. The night before the murder, they said, Zameer had dared Ahmad to strangle the girl if he wanted justice.

However, when contacted Zameer denied the family’s allegations and said he had investigated the case on merit. He also refuted allegations of taking 100kg of meat and blackmail.

The family further said they had approached SSP (operations) and Golra SDPO days before the murder, seeking a fair inquiry and changing the investigation officer.

On March 31, the victim’s mother submitted a complaint with IGP Tariq Masood Yasin, alleging unfair investigation into the earlier assault case, blackmailing by the investigation officer and the 100kg meat purchased in the SSP’s name.

A spokesperson for the IGP office said the application has been marked to the SSP for an inquiry.

The Express Tribune

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