Woman shot dead by husband in judicial magistrate’s chamber

Four months after a 19-year-old woman was gunned down by her father at the gate of the city courts, a mother of three was shot dead by her husband in a judicial magistrate’s chamber on Monday. An elderly bystander was also wounded in the incident.

Police said Saima, 20, had filed a divorce application with the court, adding that during a heated argument in the JM’s chamber, her husband Sikandar shot her. She was taken to Dr Ruth KM Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi, where doctors admitted her in the intensive care unit and termed her condition critical, as she had suffered a bullet to the abdomen. Her lawyer and the Karachi police spokesperson later confirmed that she had succumbed to her injuries.

The victim’s lawyer Aziz Dayo told The News that the incident took place during the pre-trial inside the JM’s chamber. He said the suspect had beaten up the victim a few months ago, following which she moved back in her father’s house.

After she gave birth to a baby boy, the suspect promised the victim’s father that he would not beat her again, so the father allowed the suspect to take his wife back, he added. However, the lawyer pointed out, the suspect mistreated her again, following which the couple ended up in the court of District Central’s JM-XVIII for settlement.

Police arrested the husband after the incident. According to his statement to the police, he did not bring the pistol used in the incident to the court, rather it was carried by his wife. The suspect said her father is a police sub-inspector, who gave his loaded pistol to his daughter. “I panicked and snatched the pistol from her and shot her,” claimed the suspect, who works in the Nazarat Branch of the Islamabad sessions court.

According to the victim’s father, his daughter had married the suspect around two years ago, but she had filed a divorce application with the court. The father claimed that the suspect got angry during an argument, took out a pistol and shot her. Police said that a 60-year-old bystander named Dadan was also wounded in the incident.

The suspect and the victim’s father have accused each other of bringing the pistol to court, but police said their investigation is still under way to ascertain who actually brought the weapon to court.

Karachi police chief Javed Alam Odho has taken notice of the incident and sought a detailed report from South Zone police chief Irfan Baloch. Odho has also ordered action against the policemen on security duty for their negligence.

The shooting on Monday was the second such incident at the city courts this year. On January 23, Hajira, 19, was gunned down over “honour” by her father at the gate of the city courts for marrying of her own free will.

Head Constable Imran Zaman, 40, and Wajid Kaleem, 20, had also been injured in the incident. The suspect, Ameer Jan Mehsud, 65, had been arrested and his weapon seized. However, the case has ended up in a compromise, as a model court has acquitted Mehsud of his daughter’s murder charge after his wife and children pardoned him.