July 13, 2024
By Aitzaz Ibrahim
LAHORE
A man named Syed Ali Raza allegedly tortured and killed his young pregnant wife, Syeda Sania Zahra, in Chowk Kumharanwala area of Multan, Punjab.
In addition to husband Ali Raza, his brother Ali Haider, sister Syeda Kanwal, mother Syeda Azra Bibi, father Jeevan Aftab, and first wife Syeda Dua have been named in the FIR. So far, no arrests have been made.
The FIR states that at 9am on July 9, the applicant Syed Asad Abbas Shah received a call from the SHO of New Multan police station, informing him that he had reached Sania Zahra’s home. Upon arrival, the family found Sania hanging with her knees bent and a man’s scarf around her neck, suspended from a fan with a bench placed under her.
According to the FIR, the doctor present at the scene informed the family that Sania’s jaw was broken, and there were marks of rope on her legs. She had bruises on her eyes and cheekbones and was five to six months pregnant. Unfortunately, the child did not survive.
The FIR also states that Syed Ali Raza had deceived Sania into marriage, concealing his prior marriage and bringing his first wife to live in the same house. He frequently subjected her to torture. Sania had filed a claim for haq mehr in family court, which she later withdrew for the sake of her two children.
As stated in the FIR, Ali Raza pressured Sania to obtain her inheritance from her father and give it to him. Driven by greed for her property share, he allegedly tortured and killed her, attempting to stage it as a suicide.
Syed Asad Abbas, Sania’s father, spoke to Voicepk, expressing frustration that five days have passed since his daughter’s murder without any arrests. The grave was exhumed on July 13 for a post-mortem. “The post-mortem team informed me that the neck was not fractured, which is typically seen in suicides. If my daughter had committed suicide, why didn’t my son-in-law call me? Why did he call the police? He tried to create a fake crime scene that has backfired. A bench was placed under the body, and video evidence shows her hanging from the fan with her knees on the bench. Is this how suicides are committed?”
Asad Abbas had initially not agreed on conducting post mortem of Sania. However, he said, “I could not go to the crime scene due to Muharram-related activities keeping me busy. But upon seeing the video of the incident, I was shocked and began demanding justice for my daughter on social media, filed a case with the police, and agreed to a post mortem.”
Abdul Khaliq, spokesman for Multan Police, told Voicepk that it is too early to determine whether it was a suicide or murder, assuring that the police are investigating and that the accused will be arrested soon. “It was only through evidence and investigation that the true nature of the incident came to light. The grave was exhumed today on the court’s orders, and the post-mortem report is expected soon.”