Newlywed girl murdered for ‘honour’, grave concealed

Rawalpindi: In another shocking episode, a 19-year-old newlywed girl has been murdered in an alleged ‘honour killing’ following a tribal council or ‘jirga’ decision.

The victim's body was secretly buried in the dark of night and her grave was deliberately erased, according to the sources close to the investigation.

The police have rounded up close relatives of the victim including the gravedigger and the secretary of the graveyard committee in connection with the incident. However, the court has ordered exhumation of the body for further investigation.

The victim, whose identity has not been officially released, was the wife of Zia-ur-Rehman, a resident of Fauji Colony in Pirwadhai and worker at a cloth shop in Bara Market. The couple had married in January 2025.

The sources said that on the night of July 16, the girl was allegedly murdered in the name of honour, and her body was quietly buried on July 17. Local residents reportedly informed the Pirwadhai Police Station about the suspicious burial on the same day, but no immediate action was taken.

Complicating the matter, a First Information Report (FIR) was registered by the husband on July 21, claiming his wife had been abducted. The FIR stated that she had left home at 1:20am on July 11, taking 10 tollas of gold jewelry, Rs150,000 cash, and her clothes, without informing anyone.

According to the report, on July 17 night, the deceased was brought to a location by some individuals, including one identified as Asmat. Subsequently, a jirga was held under a chairman, comprising 35 to 40 men and women of the Mohmand tribe. The jirga allegedly concluded that the woman had "brought disgrace to the tribe by running away from home," and therefore, "she must be killed."

To execute this verdict, she was reportedly locked in a room before being murdered in the courtyard in the presence of community members. Her body was then handed over to the women of the family for bathing and shrouding prior to burial.