Judicial Magistrate orders exhumation of girl lapidated to death

SUKKUR: The Judicial Magistrate on Tuesday has ordered exhumation of the grave of Gul Shama Rind, the 11-year old girl who was allegedly stoned to death in Dadu over ‘Karo Kari’ allegations near her village in Shahi Makan. The girl was allegedly murdered on Nov 21.

The Judicial Magistrate, appointed by the District and Sessions Court Sukkur, ordered exhumation of the girl's grave and directed the Sindh health department to constitute a medical board within 10 days to determine the cause of her death. It is suspected that her relatives Moulvi Mumtaz Leghari and parents , Bakhash Rind, Laila were allegedly involved in her death in some manner and another unidentified person had facilitated her burial. The police is also searching for other suspects in the gruesome murder. A local Jirga in Dadu’s Johi area had declared her Kari.

The DIG Hyderabad, Naeem Sheikh said the police have pleaded the court for physical remands of the alleged accused to carry on the investigation. Earlier they sought permission to exhume the grave to retrieve the body for an autopsy, said DIG Sheikh. Karo Kari is a major menace in Sindh like the other type of honour killings in rest of the country. In the current year 58 women and 29 men have so far been killed by this odious tradition.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption Sukkur has sent notices to chief engineer Sukkur Barrage and others for investigation into suspected corruption of millions of rupees in the maintenance projects of the barrage.

The Anti-Corruption Sukkur notices to executive chief engineer, Mukhtar Abro, engineer Irshad Memon, XEN Tariq Kehar and others for alleged corruption in different maintenance works of Sukkur Barrage including pitching stones and other maintenance works.

The suspected officers have been summoned to appear in court on December 4 (today) along with relevant records.