Rights Watch | 7th January 2021

Shia organizations in Sindh stage protests in various towns and cities across the province against the Hazara Shia coal miners massacre in Macch. Keep reading for more news on the rights situation in Pakistan.

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Rights Watch

Shia organizations in Sindh protest Machh incident

Various Shia organizations including the Shia Ulema Council and the Majlis-i-Wahdatul Muslimeen held rallies in various Sindh towns and cities against the terrorist incident in Machh which took the lives of eleven innocent Hazara Shia Muslims on January 3. Protesters in different cities warned of continuing sit-ins if demands of the victims’ families are not met, and command the government to put an end to acts of violence perpetrated against the religious community.

Man kills wife for not bearing son

A woman and her 18-month-old daughter were found dead in her husband’s home in Awan Colony, Rawalpindi, late on Tuesday. The victim, identified as Hina, had died three days prior while the infant passed away hours before they were discovered by the woman’s father, Mian Mohammad Ishfaq. Hina’s body bore torture marks and her face had been disfigured.

According to Ishfaq, he had arrived at his son-in-law’s home when Hina did not pick up their calls on Friday and Monday, while her husband’s cellphone remained switched off. The father then tried contacting her in-laws but they too were unable to get him in touch with her husband.

When Ishfaq and his son arrived at Hina’s residence, he claims that her in-laws and neighbours were all outside. He said that upon entering the house, he saw the decomposing corpse of his daughter while his granddaughter’s body was discovered in another room.

In the FIR, Ishfaq alleged that his son-in-law would physically abuse Hina for failing to bear him a son, and that his mother and sister would rile the husband to force the now-deceased woman to buy them a house. The complainant stated that his son-in-law had murdered his wife and daughter.

During investigation, the suspect claimed that Hina had died from suffocation from a gas leak, although he had been present in the house when the bodies were found. A case for murder has been registered against the suspect, however the cause of death will only be ascertained when the forensic reports are finalised, police stated.

Christian sisters found dead in nullah

The body of a young Christian woman Abida (23) was found in Rohi nullah in Kahna of Lahore district on Wednesday January 6, while the body of her sister Sajida (25) was also recovered from the same watercourse ten days prior. Both women, who were employed in a factory, had gone missing two weeks ago.

The father of the girls had filed a missing report with the police, and had initially stated that they had eloped with two unidentified men of their free will. He later named the suspects, and claimed that they had abducted his daughters – acting on the complaint, the police managed to apprehend both suspects. The parents of the deceased allege that the detained suspects may have killed their daughters.