Man accuses in-laws of murdering his wife in Haripur village

HARIPUR: A man has demanded registration of a murder case against his mother-in-law and brother-in-law for the alleged murder of his wife in Sera-e-Saleh village.

Talking to newsmen here on Monday, Syed Bilal Hussain Shah said that he got married in the court with Rakhshanda Bibi, 25, who hailed from the same village, on August 8, 2019. But his in-laws told him they wanted to arrange proper rukhsati under the local customs for their honour.

During the period, he claimed, the woman continued to visit him secretly and Bibi’s mother kept on assuring them about her rukhsati till last few months when they stopped her even stepping out of parents home. Shah, however, claimed that his wife remained in contact with him by phone and informed him a few days ago that the attitude of her parents was becoming hostile towards her.

On the morning of July 2, some family members informed him that Bibi had died in a fire accident during an attempt to light the gas stove which, according to her parents’ statement, was leaking and she died instantly before being shifted to a hospital. Rejecting the statement of Bibi’s parents, Bilal Shah said that if it was an accident, why her family members remained unaware or unhurt which he claimed was enough to prove that it was a planned fire accident.

On the complaint of Shah, the Sera-e-Saleh police shifted the body to Trauma Centre where her autopsy was conducted and according to a preliminary report, the woman had suffered 100 per cent burn injuries. However, for detailed analysis the samples from her body were sent to the Forensic Laboratory but no first information report was registered till the filing of this report. Through a written complaint, Shah accused his mother-in-law Yasmin Bibi and her son Muhammad Tayyab for setting Bibi on fire in the name of honour. He lamented that despite his complaint the police was using delaying tactics and have not yet registered a murder case against the accused even after five days.Meanwhile, Additional SHO Mukhtaj Khan, when contacted, said that the cause of death of the woman was fire apparently but the police were still working on various angles of the case.