Woman, mother pay with life for exercising right to divorce

A man killed his young bride and her mother on Thursday after he failed to persuade them to withdraw the khula case they had filed in court after learning he had two other wives.

Surjani Town police said the husband, Malik Nasir, fired on 20-year-old Kiran, her 45-year-old mother Shahjahan and the young woman's father, Babar Khan, in Kaneez Fatima Society while they were on their way to the Malir Court for the hearing of the khula case.

Rescuers took the three victims to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where the doctors pronounced the two women dead on arrival. Police have registered a case against Nasir on Khan's complaint.

SHO Ghulam Hussain Korai said Nasir had visited Khan's house in the morning and requested Kiran to withdraw the khula case, but her refusal led to the husband storming off after a heated argument.

The SHO said Kiran and Nasir had tied the knot six months ago, but the girl's parents were not happy with her decision, adding that Khan also filed a complaint at the Surjani Town police station claiming that Nasir had kidnapped his daughter and forced her into marrying him.

The officer said Kiran told the court that she had married Nasir of her own free will, adding that the court then disposed of the case in favour of the couple.

“A short while later, however, Kiran found out that Nasir had two other wives with children. On this she decided to part ways with her husband and moved back in with her parents.”

This prompted the husband to file a complaint at the Site Super Highway police station claiming that his father-in-law was keeping Kiran at his house against her wishes, said SHO Korai, adding that in the meanwhile the wife had filed for khula and her parents had her engaged to a cousin.

The officer said the police had launched a search operation to arrest Nasir, adding that they had detained his mother, brother and brother-in-law so they could assist the law enforcers in locating the accused.

Another killer at large

New Town police have failed to locate a man who had stabbed his wife to death in Ghausia Colony on Wednesday. SHO Aijaz Ahmed said they were yet to ascertain the motive for the murder.

Thirty-year-old Zubaida was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre in an injured condition, but she breathed her last during surgery. Her husband Mehmood is still at large.

Talking to The News, Aurat Foundation Resident Director Mahnaz Rahman observed an increase in gender-based crimes following the influx of migrants. “Gender-based violence is on the rise in the bordering areas of the city where the migrants have settled.”

In support of her claim, she said people brought their culture with them. “On visiting the areas where the rate of gender-based crimes is high, my foundation learnt that the culture in those parts of Karachi was different from that of the rest of the city.”