December 7th, 2020
Bureau Report
LAHORE
A Muslim man has been accused of murdering a Christian woman after she refused to convert and marry him in Islamabad. However, Islamabad police claimed that no evidence of forced conversion has been found during investigation yet.
Sonia Bibi, a 24-year-old Christian housemaid, was shot dead in Islamabad on November 30 allegedly by Shahzad alias Shani for refusing to renounce her faith and marry him. According to the first investigation report (FIR) registered with Koraal police in Islamabad, Allah Rakha Masih, Sonia’s father who is a sanitary worker, said Shahzad had been following her daughter for the past five months. Masih said Shahzad had also sent his mother to their house with a marriage proposal but they had refused her on account of their different religions. Masih said Shahzad had threatened to kill her daughter, adding that Faizan, a friend of Shahzad, also used to accompany him in following her daughter. Masih claimed that Sonia was murdered for refusing the proposal.
Main suspect still at large
According to police, on the day of the incident, the girl was travelling with Faizan on the highway, when Shahzad opened fire on her. The police said that, as per the preliminary investigation, the murder appears to have been carried out of personal resentment.
Islamabad police said that FIR was immediately registered, adding that Faizan, one of the two accused nominated in the case, had been arrested after hectic efforts of a police team. “In the ongoing investigation, no evidence as to forceful conversion of religion (has been) found,” Islamabad police said in a tweet. The main suspect Shahzad is still at large and raids are being conducted to arrest him, Koral police said. Faizan is on a three-day physical remand with the police, a police official said.
Sonia Bibi, a house maid, was shot in the head at Fazaia stop of Rawalpindi. She died on the way to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital in Islamabad. She was the eldest of six siblings. Her funeral was held the same day