Exhumation and Post-Mortem Conducted in Rawalpindi Honour Killing Case

Authorities exhumed the remains of a young woman on Monday, who is believed to be the victim of an honour killing in Rawalpindi’s Pir Wadhai vicinity. The post-mortem examination was then performed as part of the continuing inquiry into the terrible crime.

The exhumation took place under the oversight of Area Magistrate Qamar Abbas Tarar, with Dr. Misbah of Holy Family Hospital present. The forensic team subsequently gathered specimens from the body.

The case pertains to the death of a 19-year-old woman, who was reportedly murdered in the name of honour after a jirga’s ruling, and then secretly buried in a nearby cemetery.

According to the First Information Report (FIR) submitted by her husband on July 21, the woman, who was married to Zia-ur-Rehman, allegedly left her residence on July 11 with gold jewelry, Rs150,000 in cash, and other personal belongings.

According to the FIR, he discovered she had married a man named Usman, despite being married already.

It is suspected that she was killed on July 16 and interred the following day.

Rawalpindi’s City Police Officer (CPO) spoke on a news program and expanded on the investigation and case specifics, stating that authorities had discovered the woman’s murder on the same night it occurred, July 17.

Usman, the victim’s second husband, subsequently turned himself in to the police, along with the couple’s Nikahnama, which stated their marriage date as July 12 in Muzaffarabad.

The woman had previously filed a statement with the judicial magistrate, seeking protection from the court.

According to police sources, the woman stated in court that she had willingly married Usman and revealed that her father had died, her mother had remarried, and her first husband had verbally divorced her.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Ilyas, the victim’s father-in-law and Usman’s father, gave a video statement stating that he and his family live modestly as laborers, and that he contributed Rs30,000 to Rs40,000 to assist the victim in obtaining court protection.

Ilyas claimed in a video statement that armed men broke into their home four days after the wedding and threatened the family’s lives.

The family returned the woman to her relatives after her marriage was finalized. He stated that they learned of her murder two days later, which was tragic.