KARACHI, June 21: A newlywed woman, who had tied the knot against her parents’ wishes and left her home in Abbottabad to settle here, was allegedly strangled by her husband in Baldia Town on Thursday, police said.

They said Sajida had married Faisal in Abbottabad less than a month back and the couple fled their hometown for fear of life from the victim’s relatives and settled in Baldia Town No 8.

“Faisal came to the Civil Hospital Karachi on Thursday with the body of his wife pretending that he was not aware of her death and told doctors that she had fallen unconscious,” said Inspector Chaudhary Muhammad Irshad, the SHO of the Saeedabad police station. “When examined by the doctors, it emerged that the woman had been strangled more than 15 hours earlier. Then they approached the area police.”

He said the body was moved to the medico-legal section of the CHK for the formalities and the police took Faisal into custody for interrogation.

“The suspect told the police that he and his wife had married in the last week of May despite severe opposition from their families. They remained in hiding in Abbottabad for a few days before moving to Karachi,” he said. “The girl’s parents then lodged an FIR against Faisal with the area police station. The two families are close relatives.”

The police later came to know that a few relatives of the couple lived in Karachi, and approached them to know the background to the freewill marriage.

One of the woman’s relatives, the police said, told investigators that they were aware of their residence in Karachi but did not inform their parents to save them from possible harm.

“A woman’s cousin told the police that they had planned to inform the two families after their anger had subsided,” said the SHO of the Saeedabad police station. “They all are now in shock and unable to understand the reason behind the murder. The suspect, however, admitted that he had a heated argument with the victim on Wednesday, but did not share further details.”

The police said the families of the couple were due in Karachi on Friday to pursue the case. The body of the victim was moved to the Edhi morgue after medico-legal formalities.