Hina Javed murder: Co-accused’s family alleges police torture, implicates victim’s husband

RAWALPINDI: The family of Zeeshan Arshad, a domestic worker and co-accused in the Hina Javed murder case, has claimed that he is innocent and is being framed by the police, alleging that he was tortured and coerced into confessing to the crime.

Speaking to the media in Rawalpindi, Zeeshan’s father, Muhammad Arshad, alleged that the entire case had been shifted onto his son, who had worked at the victim’s home for around seven months.

“My son is innocent. An attempt is being made to implicate him in the Hina Javed murder case and portray him as the main accused,” he said.

Arshad said that he met Zeeshan twice in jail since his arrest. During those meetings, he said, his son had told him that Hina was like a mother to him.

According to Arshad, Zeeshan told him that a dispute had broken out between Hina and her husband, Faisal Asghar Imam, on the night of August 20. The noise woke Zeeshan, who allegedly saw Hina running away while Faisal chased her, he said.

Arshad claimed that Faisal had ordered Zeeshan to catch Hina. When Zeeshan refused to intervene in what he considered a dispute between husband and wife, Faisal allegedly beat him and forced him at gunpoint to catch her.

“My son says he was forced to do whatever happened,” Arshad said, adding that Zeeshan had accused Faisal of killing Hina himself and hanging her in the bathroom.

Arshad further alleged that police had tortured Zeeshan during remand and pressured him to confess to the crime.

These allegations could not be independently verified.

He also claimed that the family was informed about Hina’s death 11 days after the incident. According to him, neither the police nor Zeeshan’s employers had contacted the family in connection with the case.

Arshad disputed reports that his son had a criminal record, saying Zeeshan was around 18 or 19 years old and that no case or complaint had ever been registered against him or the family in their native area of Mian Gondal, tehsil Malakwal, Mandi Bahauddin district.

“If he had a criminal record, why would anyone have employed him?” he asked.

The accused’s maternal uncle also said the family had sent Zeeshan to work to earn money and that they did not know what had caused the dispute between Faisal and his wife.

A day earlier, the family of Hina Javed rejected the Punjab Police investigation into her alleged murder, accusing investigators of overlooking DNA evidence and shielding individuals named in the case.

Addressing a press conference at the National Press Club (NPC) on Saturday, Hina’s brother and the case’s complainant, Fahd Javed, demanded the immediate formation of a judicial commission, saying the family had lost confidence in the police and the high-level committee constituted by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.

“A killer can lie but DNA cannot lie,” Javed said, alleging that DNA belonging to Hina’s husband, Faisal Asghar Imam, had been recovered from four locations, including her neck, bedsheet and a door lock.

“How can someone’s DNA be found and the police still declare him innocent?” he questioned, alleging that investigators had failed to include Faisal’s name in the challan despite the forensic findings.

Javed also alleged that DNA belonging to Hina’s father-in-law had been recovered from her neck, questioning why he had not been subjected to further investigation.