BAHAWALNAGAR: A man and his two sons along with six of their accomplices have been booked on the charge of killing his newlywed daughter and her husband for contracting free-will marriage in Faqirwali here on Wednesday night.

The first information report registered with Faqirwali police said that Naeem Abbas of village 115/6R contracted court marriage (second) with his cousin Tayyaba Fatima of the same area about three months ago.

On the eve of Wednesday at about 6pm, Naeem was on his way home from his outhouse on a bike with his three-year-old daughter Manahil Fatima when three members of his in-laws family along with six of their accomplices intercepted him and gunned him down while injuring his minor daughter.

Meanwhile, the attackers also shot at and killed his wife who was trying to rescue him. The suspects managed their escape.

The FIR claimed that the couple was killed for contracting free-will marriage.

Police sources told Dawn that Tayyaba was Naeem’s cousin while Naeem had a daughter from his first marriage who was also injured in the attack. Police had arrested the main suspect on Thursday and raids were being conducted to arrest other suspects, the sources added.

LIFE SENTENCE: A local court in Bahawalnagar on Thursday sentenced a man and his son to life imprisonment besides imposing a fine for shooting his wife to death for not having a child in the Takhat Mahal police precincts on April 1, 2024.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Ghulam Shabbir also imposed a fine of Rs0.5 million as damages on suspect Manzoor and his son Ali Irfan.

According to the FIR registered under sections 302, 324, 311, 337A and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), Manzoor killed his 45-year-old second wife Naseem Bibi with the help of his son Ali Irfan while hitting her with a chaff cutter and firing gunshots on her for not having children despite 20 years of marriage and later managed his escape. Police arrested the suspect after a two-week hunt.

Later during the trial, the prosecution produced substantial evidence against the accused, which established the involvement of Manzoor and his son in the murder of woman and subsequently sentenced the convict to life imprisonment.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2024