SUKKUR, July 8: Rahim Bux Mahar and Erum Bhayo, the residents of Lakhi Ghulam Shah located some 20 kilometres away from Sukkur were buried in Chak and Sukkur, separately, on Tuesday. The couple had got married of their own free will last year after escaping from their houses.

They were murdered by their relatives in Khanpur Katora in Punjab on Sunday.

In June 2007, Rahim and Erum, both residents of village Abdu near Chak ran away from their houses and got married.

Their marriage sparked enmity between their tribes. And their angry relatives decided to kill them.

In the meantime, Erum’s widow mother along with her sons and daughters had shifted to Memon Muhalla in Sukkur as their lives were under threat in the village.

To avert any bloodshed between the tribes, some influential people of Bhayo and Mahar tribes intervened in the matter and as a result of that, Erum Bhayo was handed over to an influential of Bhayo tribe in the last week of July 2007, where she was kept in their protection. Rahim stayed at his home but under tight watch of a Mahar influential.

After a month, Erum managed to escape from the house of that influential and reached the house of Rahim. They both once again ran away and shifted to Khanpur Katora in Punjab, where they lived till their deaths.

The couple during their stay in a two-roomed house situated in Muhalla Zehrian Khanpur Katora was passing a peaceful time, as Rahim worked as a labourer.

On Sunday, sources said, Rafiq Ahmed Bhayo, who was said to be a fiancé of Erum, along with his maternal uncle, Shakeel Ahmed, broke into their house and opened indiscriminate firing. Erum was killed on the spot and Rahim Bux Mahar was seriously injured and later succumbed to his injuries in a local hospital.

Sources claimed that when the assailants were fleeing after killing the couple, two police commandos of the city police station of Khanpur Katora, Jam Zahid and Mohammad Nasir, followed them and managed to arrest an accused Shakeel Ahmed, but Rafiq escaped from the scene.

On information, Abdul Jabbar Mahar, the brother of deceased Rahim, and the mother of the deceased woman arrived in Khanpur Katora on Monday and received the bodies.

Rahim was buried in village Abdu near Chak, while Erum was buried in a local graveyard in Sukkur on Tuesday.

Tension is prevailing between Bhayo and Mahar tribesmen following the murders.

Tribesmen from both sides have entrenched against each other and a gunbattle is feared, claimed sources and added that, the area police were doing nothing to avert the likely blood shed.