KARACHI: Police booked and arrested on Thursday a young man, his elder brother and sister-in-law for keeping his wife chained in illegal confinement in his home for more than four months, officials said.

They said some area people approached the Baloch Colony police station in the first half of the day after spotting a young woman in chains along a storm-water drain near Qayyumabad.

“The police brought 19-year-old Zillay Bibi to the police station, where she shared her ordeal,” said Sub-Inspector Samad Khan, associated with the investigation section of the police station.

“The woman had married Abid Khan some six to eight months ago and settled in Liaquat Ashraf Colony near Mehmoodabad about four months ago.”

The woman told the police that her husband and her in-laws started torturing her over minor issues and later locked her up in a room fastening her hands and legs with chains.

“They did not provide her food regularly and beat her up frequently. On Thursday when all family members were out for their personal tasks, she managed to unlock the chain and ran away,” said Sub-Inspector Khan.

He said the woman originally hailed from the Batagram area and married Abid under a conventional watta-satta arrangement.

“On her complaint we have registered a case (FIR 3/2011) under Sections 337-A (Shajjah-i-Khafifah), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code against Abid, his elder brother Abdul Waris and sister-in-law Ishrat Bibi.

“They all were later arrested,” added the official.

Source: Dawn

Date:1/7/2011