Khairpur judge orders exhumation of maid’s body

SUKKUR: The Pir of Ranipur, Syed Asad Shah Jillani, accused of killing the 10-year-old maid Fatima, was handed over to the police on a four-day remand, while his wife, Hina Shah, has been allowed 7-day interim bail.

In a related development Additional Sessions Judge Khairpur ordered Fatima’s exhumation.

The Ranipur Police produced Asad Shah before the jurisdiction court on Thursday and sought his physical remand for concluding the investigations. The judge handed him over to the police on a four-day remand.

In his statement to the court, Syed Asad Shah said that Fatima was their disciple and he did not kill her. He said he had provided video recordings of his room where he could be seen sleeping.

Shah said the girl was treated at a private hospital for illness but her condition worsened and she died on Tuesday night.

In his statement to the court, Dr Abdul Fattah Memon said Fatima was suffering from diarhoea and vomiting due to which her body fluids were running low.

Meanwhile, the Sindh High Court, Sukkur, has approved interim bail of accused Hina Shah, w/o Syed Asad Ali Shah, against a surety bond of Rs30,000 for seven days in the Fatima murder case. The accused had filed a pre-arrest bail application.

In a related development, Additional Sessions Judge, Khairpur, allowed the exhumation of Fatima’s body. SSP Khairpur Mir Rohal Khan Khoso said that since the girl was buried by her relatives without a postmortem, the police had filed an application in the sessions court, Khairpur, for exhumation under the supervision of Judicial Magistrate.

Meanwhile, Ujala, a cousin of deceased Fatima, accused Asad Shah’s wife Hina Shah of habitually thrashing the children working at her house.

In a video statement uploaded on Facebook, Ujala said Hina would mercilessly beat the maids with a viper and also force the children working in the Haveli to beat each another. They were paid only Rs4,000 per month for working the whole day long.

Ujalla said that a few days ago, after Hina Shah severely manhandled her, she fled the haveli and went to her house. When her parents complained to the Pirs, they paid no attention. She demanded the authorities to take action against Hina Shah and get other children working at the Pir’s house released.

Reacting to the tragic incident, Dr Niaz Kalani, a senior leader of JSQM, demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident. Chairman JSM Riaz Chandio also condemned the incident and demanded an exemplary punishment to the accused.