Two more suspects granted bail in woman’s suicide case

A local court on Tuesday granted bail to two more suspects arrested for allegedly blackmailing a woman and inducing her to commit suicide.

Amir and Waqas moved a joint application through their counsel seeking post-arrest bail and contending that they had been behind bars for the past three weeks but the investigators had not been able to find any clue against them. They pleaded the court to release them.

On a query from the court, the investigating officer said that the mobile phones of the suspects and the victim were sent for forensic examinations to the Federal Investigation Agency but they could not retrieve data from them so the probe was still under way.

After listening to the arguments from both sides, Additional District & Sessions Judge (Central) Liaqat Ali Khoso approved the bail application of the two suspects with the order that they were to cooperate with the investigators.

The court ordered them to submit a surety of Rs100,000 to secure their release, and directed them to ensure their presence during the hearings. On a previous hearing, the court had granted bail to another suspect, Irtiza, against the same conditions.

Six suspects, namely Shahid, Asad, Farhan, Waqas, Amir and Irtiza, were booked for their alleged involvement in blackmailing and harassing a 41-year-old married woman, who committed suicide by tying a dupatta around her neck and hanging herself from the ceiling fan.

According to the prosecution, the suspects were arrested in connection with the victim’s death. He said the woman had named the suspects in her final audio messages to a friend, saying that they had been harassing her. The case was registered under sections 322 (Qatl-bis-sabab) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Shahrah-e-Noorjehan on the complaint of the victim’s husband.