Girl falls prey to ‘honour killing’ in Swabi

PESHAWAR: Newly-married Zoha, 18, was allegedly poisoned to death by her in-laws in Gandaf village in district Swabi on June 28.

After registering an initial report, the police are still waiting for the postmortem report to formally launch investigation into the case and arrest the suspects. The parents of Zoha have nominated her mother-in-law Khatun Bibi and her brother-in-law Mohsin Khan as the main suspects.

Zoha was married to Shahbaz Khan six months ago. Shahbaz Khan is currently doing his business in the US.

Zoha was probably dreaming big in a small village that pitched her against her in-laws who were opposed to her going to the US with her husband. Shahbaz Khan was supposed to take her to the US after a few days.

Zoha’s mother-in-law was said to be unwilling to send her to a foreign country and allegedly used to torture her as her husband was away. Soon after marriage, Khatun Bibi kept torturing Zoha — sometime beating her up or accusing her of having relations with someone. “But Zoha persevered against all odds hoping she will be soon with her husband in the US,” Zoha’s father, Riaz Khan, told The News.

Zoha’s elder sister Aman, wife of Mohsin Khan, is also married in the same family. According to Aman, Zoha kept screaming with pain pleading her in-laws to take her to a hospital, but her mother-in-law had her locked in her room, saying it is just low blood pressure and nothing serious. “Our mother-in-law even snatched my mobile phone so that I do not inform my parents,” Aman told the police in her initial statement. “Zoha was taken to a local hospital in Topi when she was almost choking to death after eight hours,” she added.

The Gadoon Amazai Industrial Estate Police Station House Officer, Farooq Khan, told The News that they are waiting for the chemical examination report to launch proper investigation and register an FIR. Though the police believe it looks like a well-planned murder, they are still waiting for the forensic report despite the lapse of a week.