BAHAWLPUR: A dispute over a love marriage claimed lives of four persons, including a woman, at Khairpur Tamewali on Bahwalnagar Road, about 40kms from here on Sunday.

According to the district police, a youth Raashid had contracted love marriage with Aisha, a resident of Sambrial area in Sialkot district some five months ago.

Since then, the girl’s parents had been harbouring a grudge against with the couple as they considered the marriage a blot on their honour.

Raashid told police that on Sunday, Aisha’s mother Shugufta, her brother and a cousin stormed his house and allegedly opened indiscriminate fire, killing his (Raashid’s) father Faiz Baksh, brother Shahid and sister-in-law Sonia on the spot. His uncle Mazhar, who was seriously injured in the firing, was rushed to the local tehsil headquarters hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds. After the attack, the assailants managed to escape.

On receipt of information, Khairpur police reached the scene and after collecting evidence, shifted the bodies to the THQ hospital for the postmortem examination.

The police said that none of the suspects could so far be arrested. They added that for the filing of FIR, a written complaint was being awaited.

To protest the brazen attack, the victims’ families and other relatives staged a demonstration, blocking the Bahawalpur-Bahawalnagar road. They demanded immediate arrest of the suspects.

However, the protesters later dispersed on the assurance of police officials that the fleeing suspects would be soon arrested.

Meanwhile, Raashid alleged that his mother-in-law Shugufta Bibi had threatened his wife that she would kill her if she did not record a false statement with the police, alleging that she was abducted by her husband (Raashid).

However, he said, Aisha had told a magistrate that she married of her own will and was not abducted.

Aisha also told the police that her mother shot her father-in-law with a pistol.

TRAFFIC JAM: Buses, trucks, vans and other vehicular traffic remained struck for hours at the entry point to Uch Sharif from the Karachi-Lahore-Peshawar ( KLP) road, some 70kms from here on Sunday.

The jam disrupted traffic flow on the both tracks of the road, causing a great inconvenience to the commuters, including women and children, in the continuing heat wave.

Such jams frequently occur at the spot because of the narrowness of the road, affecting the traffic flow.

The commuters demanded that the entry passage should be widened to provide relief to those traveling to Lahore and Karachi.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2019