NAROWAL: The father of 30-year-old Zara Bibi who was brutally murdered by her in-laws in Daska says that his daughter’s mother-in-law and six sisters-in-law were jealous of her.

The mother-in-law, Sughran Bibi, who had been arrested on charge of murder committed in connivance with her daughters and other relatives made a typical allegation during investigation that the deceased was involved in witchcraft to get hold of her son.

Zara was reportedly seven months pregnant when she was killed by Sughran, who was also sister of her deceased mother, and sister-in-law Yasmin abetted by their relative Naveed. The suspects had strangled her before cutting her body into pieces and scattering them in different places.

Shabbir Ahmad, father of Zara, who himself is a former ASI, told Dawn that he married off his daughter with Qadeer Ahmed, a resident of Kotli Meeran of tehsil Daska, four years back.

“They had a two-year-old son, Muhammad Shafi. Qadeer was working in Saudi Arabia and my daughter was also living with him. She returned to Pakistan 15 days ago and I left her at her in-laws’ at Kotli Meeran 10 days ago.”

Shabbir, a resident of Kot Mund, Gujrwanwala, said Sughran and her daughter, Yasmin, did not like that Zara was living abroad with her husband and they were jealous of her. A news website quoted Shabbir as saying that Zara’s in-laws had already made an attempt to murder her in the past. “On Nov 10, I started making phone calls to my daughter but her mobile phone number was continuously switched off. On Nov 12, I went to my daughter and her sister-in-law told him that Zara had left the house on her with jewellery and valuables. But my grandson, Shafi, was present at home”.

Shabbir got suspicious and registered an FIR with Motra police of Daska regarding the disappearance of the daughter and nominated five persons, including Saghran, in the case.

Malik Waqas Ahmed, spokesperson of Sialkot police, said they arrested Abdullah, a relative of Sughran, named in the FIR, for investigation who confessed to the murder along with Sughran and Yasmin. Police arrested Saghran, Yasmin and Naveed on Abdullah’s identification. The spokesman said the four suspects had confessed to the murder and added that Saghran told the investigators that Zara used to do magic and alleged that the deaths and other losses in her family were due to Zara’s witchcraft.

According to police, Sughran has six daughters and only one son and she as well as her six daughters were jealous of Zara because she was living abroad with her husband who cared for her. She thought that her son had been taken away by her daughter-in-law which led to fights and the continuous cold war.

Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2024