Man strangles wife to death over ‘honour’

In the second case of violence against women in two days, a young wife was murdered by her husband in Surjani Town on Saturday.

Harking back to Friday’s incident, the husband in this case initially claimed that his wife had committed suicide, but then admitted to killing her when faced with the autopsy report.

SHO Mulazim Hussain said 22-year-old Sidrah’s in-laws informed them at around 2:15pm that she had hanged herself from a ceiling fan, following which a police party was despatched to the scene.

He said the in-laws claimed that after a heated argument with them, Sidrah locked herself in her room and they could not get her to open the door. “They said that when they broke down the door, they found her body hanging from the fan.”

The body was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where Police Surgeon Dr Nadeem said Medico-Legal Officer Dr Zakia had conducted the post-mortem examination, which showed Sidrah was strangled to death before her body was hanged from the fan.

Following the autopsy report, the police took the victim’s husband Samiullah and his brother into custody. Sidrah’s parents told the police that they would file a complaint against her husband and in-laws after completing her last rites.

The investigating officer, Sub-Inspector Muhammad Ramzan, said Samiullah had killed his wife over honour. “Samiullah told the police that he had read a stranger’s text message on his wife’s mobile phone.”

SI Ramzan said Samiullah beat up Sidrah over the revelation and then killed her when she admitted to having a conversation with the man. Aurat Foundation Resident Director Mahnaz Rahman condemned the murder and lamented over the increasing number of honour killings across Karachi. She said the city was famous for its acceptability that made many people emigrate here to enjoy its diversity.

“When we discuss honour killings,” she said, “we imagine it as a phenomenon prevalent in the rural areas where people are comparatively less educated. But such incidents are increasing with every passing year in Karachi because migration from the rural areas to the city has been occurring at a rapid pace.”

She claimed that one could easily observe rural culture in some pockets of the city. “People emigrate to the city with their culture, and our research suggests that honour killings take place in the localities where migrants are in the majority.”

A day earlier, a man strangled his wife to death in Sector 4 of North Karachi after she failed to serve him his breakfast on time.