A South District judicial magistrate on Tuesday extended by two days the police remand of two suspects in a case pertaining to the death of a woman, whose body was recovered from Sea View.
The body of 23-year-old Sara Malik, who worked at a veterinary hospital in DHA, was found near Farhan Shaheed Park in Sea View on November 8. Dr Saleem, owner of the hospital, and his business partner, Waqas, have been arrested on suspicion of their involvement in her suspected murder.
The investigating officer produced both the detained suspects before the judicial magistrate and requested an extension of their remand for the completion of the investigation. He stated that the police had not yet received the victim’s final postmortem report, which would determine the exact cause of her death. He added the suspects would be interrogated in light of the report once it was received.
The lawyer for Waqas, Khawaja Naveed Ahmed, however, opposed the IO’s plea for an extension of their police remand and requested the magistrate to remand them in judicial custody. Accepting the IO’s plea, the court extended the police remand of the suspects for two days and directed him to produce them on the next date along with an investigating report.
An FIR was registered against two suspects – the owner of the vet hospital and another girl, Bisma, under Section 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on the complaint of the victim’s father. Later, investigators added Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the PPC to the case. Bisma is said to have obtained interim bail.
According to the police, the victim’s mobile phone was recovered from Waqas, a third suspect, who allegedly tried to hide it to delete evidence. They said there were visible signs of torture on her eyes and nose. A police officer said that the victim had been working at the hospital for the past two years and had also developed relations with the owner.