Pindi honour killing: court orders exhumation, suspects remanded

RAWALPINDI: A local court has ordered the exhumation of a woman’s body on July 28 in connection with a suspected honour killing reportedly carried out on the orders of a jirga in Fauji Colony area of Rawalpindi.

According to police, the 19-year-old newlywed woman, Sidra, was allegedly strangled to death after a jirga ruling and buried secretly, with all traces of her grave deliberately removed. Three suspects, including the jirga head, former chairman of the local graveyard committee, and a gravedigger were taken into custody.

The court has fixed 10am on July 28 for the exhumation and instructed that the autopsy be conducted in the presence of a magistrate.

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 The medical superintendent of DHQ Hospital has been directed to form a medical board, while the TMA has been tasked with preparing the site at the cemetery.

Meanwhile, the suspects arrested in the honour killing case, have been remanded in police custody until July 29. They were produced before a local magistrate who approved their physical remand.

Police allege that Sidra was quietly buried at night and all traces of the grave were erased to conceal the crime. The incident took place in Fauji Colony, within the limits of Pirwadhai police station.

Initial reports suggested that Sidra had eloped with another man along with jewellery and cash, prompting her husband, Ziaur Rehman, to lodge a case against her. However, later revelations indicated she may have been killed in the name of ‘honour’ with community members present during the murder.

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Sources claimed that Sidra was confined to a room and later killed in a courtyard. Her body was handed over to female relatives for funeral rites and buried secretly. A guard has been deployed at the gravesite on court orders to prevent tampering with evidence.

Further legal action will follow once the post-mortem report is received, police added.