Fifth woman murdered in city over past 10 days

Karachi

The recent spate of violence against women in the city continued on Thursday as the body of a woman was found with her throat slit at an abandoned house in the Iqbal Market police limits.

Police identified the victim as 40-year-old Nasreen, daughter of Muhammad Ali, and said her decomposing body had been recovered from a house in Tauheed Colony, Orangi Town after the neighbours reported a foul smell emanating from the premises.

It was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where a medico-legal officer confirmed that the body was at least five days old and that she had been murdered by slitting her throat.

The victim, according to police, was a mother of five who had separated from her husband after a divorce two years ago. All the children, investigators said, were living with the former husband, adding that they would be looking into all possible aspects over the course of the inquiry.

At a time when the country continues to see harrowing cases of violence against women but still remains embroiled in misguided debates over the need for protective legislation, Nasreen became the fifth woman to be murdered in the city over the past 10 days.

On May 30, two females were brutally murdered by their husbands in the city. The first murder was reported in Korangi police limits where 28-year-old Raeesa was strangled to death by her husband, Imran, at their Sector 33/F residence.  

The couple’s three children, police said, raised alarm which led to the on-spot arrest of the murderer, Imran. Officials maintained that the murder was driven by a domestic dispute but further details would emerge as the interrogation progresses. 

The other murder was reported in the Surjani police’s limits where 20-year-old Rukhsana was killed by her heartless husband, Sagheer, at their Sector 51/G residence. 

In this case, the perpetrator also managed to flee and police were yet to track him down. Investigators said the couple had recently married and that the murder was related to an argument that had drastically escalated.

On May 27, an eighteen-year-old girl was shot dead in the SITE police limits after she allegedly refused a cousin’s marriage proposal.

Fareeda, daughter of Ali Akber, was reported to have been gunned down by two of her cousins, Ghafoor and his younger brother Ghaffar, inside her Ayub Goth residence.

She was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital in a critical condition where she died during treatment, while both the men managed to flee.

According to police Ghafoor wanted to marry Fareeda and had come to the house with his brother to convince her to marry him; however, her refusal angered him to the point that he opened fire on her.

Three days before that, a man was reported to have strangled his wife to death, within the Quaidabad police limits.

Hameeda, 26, wife of Fazal-e-Wahid, was unable to survive when her husband in a deranged fit of anger assaulted her at their residence in Sherpao Colony, Swati Mohallah. After beating the woman, the killer strangled her to death and had fled.