ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday summoned from the Lahore High Court the record of a case involving a woman who was bludgeoned to death allegedly by her father and other relatives outside the LHC on May 27.

The husband of Farzana, Mohammad Iqbal, had filed a petition in the high court to seek the quashing of an FIR lodged by her cousin Mazhar Iqbal, which alleged that she had been kidnapped by Mohammad Iqbal.

Editorial: Death of compassion

The couple was going to the high court where Farzana was to testify that she had not been kidnapped when she was killed. The SC has taken up suo motu notice of the murder.

A “police report” claims that Farzana had married Mazhar two years ago. Later she left him and married Mohammad Iqbal on Jan 7 this year, but she did not inform him about her first marriage.

Mazhar lodged a kidnapping case with the Syedwala police which led to the arrest of Mohammad Iqbal.

Also read: Violence continuum

During hearing by the three-judge SC bench headed by Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed said that the incident could have been prevented had the police guard deployed at the LHC’s gates fired even a single bullet in the air.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2014