UMERKOT, Nov 28: A woman who had been declared dead and buried by her family appeared in court on Wednesday, 21 days after she was said to have gone missing.

Zulekha Khoso, a resident of Khosa Mohalla, had been declared dead 15 days after she went missing and her family had performed burial rituals on another woman’s body.

However, a murder case had been lodged against three men by her brother-in-law, Shadi Khan Khoso, a former police officer, nine days after she went missing.

Meanwhile, on Nov 16, the family came to know about an unidentified woman who had been found dead in the Quaidabad area of Karachi. Zulekha’s husband, Khalid Khoso, came to Karachi and after identifying that the body was his wife’s took it to Umerkot for burial.

But Zulekha’s daughter, Mehtab, and a few neighbours had expressed doubts that Mr Khoso had brought in the wrong body.

The identity of the woman who was buried is still unclear.

According to Umerkot SHO Sufi Aurangzeb, the missing woman was presented before the judicial magistrate on Wednesday and was identified by her daughter Mehtab. He said that the FIR registered for Zulekha’s murder by her brother-in-law was disposed of under Section 164 of the criminal procedure code.

Testifying in court, Zulekha said that she had gone to her parents’ house in Badin because her husband had fixed Mehtab’s engagement without her consent.

She said that she contacted her family when she heard that they had buried the wrong body.

Zulekha said that she had agreed to return home after her husband assured her that he would review his decision about Mehtab’s engagement.