Police granted custody of accused in Karachi ‘honour killing’ case

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court on Tuesday has given five-day police remand of nine suspects allegedly involved in the so-called 'honour killing' of a newly-married couple. 

The case against 16 suspects was filed in the Mominabad police station against on Tuesday.

Police has also arrested the house landlord, Afzalzadah, for giving the house on rent to the couple without any written agreement.

The case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act sections and Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code nominated nine arrested individuals and seven suspects who are on the run.

Miskeen, Ayub, Azam, Tanveer, Habib Khan, Maran Khan and a few others who are not yet arrested are named in the case.

The couple was killed allegedly on the orders of a jirga in the metropolis' Mominabad area on Monday. 

As many as nine suspects, including the father and uncle of the deceased man, were apprehended by the police.

Police said that the woman's body was put in a sack and buried, while the man’s body had not been discovered yet. 

The law-enforcement authorities suspect that the newly-married couple was killed a few weeks back.

The unfortunate couple, 24-year-old Hadi and the woman, had married out of choice which offended their family members who wanted to kill them for bringing disgrace to their honour, Orangi SP Abid Baloch informed Geo News.

"The parents, brothers of the couple live in Nawab Colony. When I went to investigate, they confessed that in the jirga both the parties decided to kill the man and woman," said Qasim Hameed, a policeman.

Police further said the deceased woman's father and brother were on the run.

"We didn't kill them. Miskeen (woman's father) murdered them. He sent a message to us that your son ran with my daughter again so I have killed them," the father of the man told Geo News.

Authorities started looking out for the couple after the landlord of their house reported to the police about their disappearance and presence of bloodstains in the house.

Separately, Home Minister Sohail Anwar Siyal in a media talk confirmed that nine suspects have been apprehended by the police. 

Responding to a question, the home minister lamented that people are afraid to give their testimony in court in honour killing cases.