June 15, 2026
By Rehan Piracha
GUJRANWALA
A man allegedly shot and killed his daughter, her husband, and a domestic worker in the village of Mandiyala Waraich on the outskirts of Gujranwala, in what police are investigating as a premeditated honour based killing. The suspect, Tariq Waraich, a landlord, was arrested on June 14, 2026, and remains in custody.
The victims have been identified as Faiza, the suspect’s daughter, her husband Abdul Waheed, and a labourer known as Zulfiqar alias Bholu, who the police say was killed to be silenced.
Couple lured to inlaws house on pretext of reconciliation
The seeds of the tragedy were sown three months ago when Faiza and Abdul Waheed eloped and married against her family’s wishes. Abdul Waheed worked in Gujranwala making artificial ceiling fittings and had come to know Faiza when he was hired to install ceilings at her family’s home. The relationship that developed led to a court marriage after the family refused to give their consent.
For nearly six weeks after the wedding, the couple remained in hiding. They eventually surfaced at Abdul Waheed’s family home in Kalanka Mandi, Hafizabad — the home of his brother, Abdul Naveed.
It was there, on June 10, that Faiza’s parents arrived unannounced. According to Abdul Naveed, they came bearing what seemed like an olive branch.
“Faiza’s parents came to our home and we welcomed them,” Abdul Naveed told Voicepk. “They said they had accepted Abdul Waheed as their son-in-law from the heart. They said they wanted to take both of them back with them to carry out the formal rukhsati, a formal departure of the bride, according to local custom.”
Reassured, the family agreed. Abdul Waheed and Faiza left with her parents on June 10. Two witnesses from the neighbourhood, Muhammad Adil and Sharafat Ali, were also present at the time of departure.
Their phones went dead
By June 12, Abdul Naveed had grown anxious. Repeated calls to his brother and sister-in-law went unanswered.
“We tried calling them many times that day,” he said. “When we could not reach them, we became worried. Around 4:30 in the evening, I went with Muhammad Adil and Sharafat Ali to Tariq Waraich’s home in Mandiyala Waraich.”
What they found inside the house was devastating. The bodies of Abdul Waheed and Faiza lay inside a room. In the courtyard, the body of Zulfiqar alias Bholu was also discovered. Abdul Naveed said both his brother and Faiza bore visible marks of physical violence. “There were signs of torture on both their bodies,” he said.
FIR filed, mother also named
Abdul Naveed subsequently filed a First Information Report (FIR) at the local police station, naming Tariq Waraich and his wife, Nusrat Sultana, as accused under Sections 302, 311, and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code — relating to murder, honour killing, and common intent.
Police confirmed that Tariq Waraich was arrested on June 14 and that interrogation is ongoing. Nusrat Sultana has also been named in the case.
In a statement on June 12, City Police Officer (CPO) Gujranwala, Dr. Sardar Ghiyas Gul Khan, visited the crime scene shortly after the incident was reported, reviewed the evidence, and received an initial briefing from investigating officers. He constituted a special team under SP Civil Lines Imran Khan to lead the investigation. “The protection of citizens’ lives and property is the foremost responsibility of the police,” said Dr. Ghiyas Gul Khan. “Those involved in this crime will be arrested and prosecuted without exception.”
A pattern that refuses to end
The killing follows a pattern seen repeatedly across Punjab, as well as the rest of the country, where women who choose their own marriage partners — or their husbands — become targets of lethal retribution from their own families. In this case, police say Tariq Waraich used the pretext of a family reconciliation to lure the couple back and then killed them, eliminating a bystander in the process to cover his tracks. Abdul Naveed, still coming to terms with the loss of his brother, said the family had done nothing wrong.
“My brother married her with full consent on both sides,” he said. “They were living happily. They trusted her parents’ word and went with them. And they never came back.”