Horrifying revelations have come to the fore in the gruesome incident in which a 30-year-old woman was killed by her in-laws in Sialkot’s Daska tehsil a couple of days ago.
Police have arrested the prime suspect (woman’s mother-in-law), sister-in-law, and an accomplice named Naveed.
According to details, Zara Bibi got married to her cousin Qadeer Ahmed some four years ago. Qadeer was living in Saudi Arabia for employment and Zara Bibi also spent some time with him abroad.
Shabbir Ahmed, a resident of Gujranwala, launched an FIR against the in-laws of her daughter Zara Bibi when he had no contact with her for two days.
Shabbir alleged that Zara’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law used to torture his daughter. The police got the information during the investigation that a body was found in a sewage drain.
The body was later identified as that of Zara who was brutally killed and her body was chopped off by the killers. The parts of the body were sealed in two sacks and thrown into the drain.
The police have arrested the woman, her daughter, and grandson besides Naveed.
Later, the suspect confessed to killing her daughter-in-law for allegedly practicing ‘witchcraft’. The suspect said her daughter-in-law was responsible for several deaths in the family due to the ‘witchcraft’ she practiced.
Meanwhile, the Sialkot DPO said the prime suspect called her cousin Naveed from Lahore for assistance in the brutal murder.
“The accused first put the pillow over her face to suffocate her during sleep and then chopped off her body,” the police officer said.
The woman and her cousin Naveed were also seen buying knives from the market in the CCTV footage. Zara was the mother of a two and half year son and at the time of the murder, she was pregnant.
According to the investigating officer, Muhammad Arshad, the initial claims of “black magic” by the suspects appear baseless.
He disclosed that the mother-in-law has six daughters and one son, who loves his wife dearly and took her to Saudi Arabia with him. This caused jealousy among the family, especially the mother-in-law, who felt her son was being “taken away” from her.
The officer further explained, “Zara was the most beautiful woman in the family, which led to additional envy from her sisters-in-law. In my experience, sheer jealousy consumed this household.”
The mother-in-law confessed during interrogation, stating, “My son cared deeply for his wife, gave her money, and prioritized her, which was unbearable for me.” With Zara’s second pregnancy, the mother-in-law feared that her son would become even more attached to his wife.
According to the police, Zara’s husband, Qadeer, has been working in Saudi Arabia for several years. Zara, who moved to Saudi Arabia after her marriage, had a son and was expecting another child.
She had returned to Pakistan only a month ago. Her father, Shabbir Ahmed, a retired police officer, expressed disbelief over the tragic incident, stating, “It is hard to accept this. The accused is my daughter’s real aunt, who had proposed this marriage with pride.”
Shabbir added, “We were aware of minor disagreements, which are common in every household. We even advised our daughter not to raise her voice against her aunt. But we never imagined her aunt would go to such extremes.”
Shabbir recounted how he tried calling Zara multiple times without a response, which prompted him to visit her in-laws’ house in Daska. Upon entering, he found Zara’s mother-in-law and sisters-in-law present. When he called out for Zara, one of the sisters-in-law claimed she wasn’t home and had “probably run away with jewelry and money.”
He said, “At that moment, my instincts told me something terrible had happened. I searched the house, including Zara’s room and other areas, noticing an unusual cleanliness and her 2.5-year-old son present at home. This raised my suspicions further.” He immediately contacted his elder brother and informed the local police station.
Shabbir revealed that Zara had faced violence from her in-laws before. Unable to find her, he filed a kidnapping complaint against Zara’s in-laws at the local police station.
SHO Malik Toqeer elaborated, “The disputes between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law started long ago, creating a cold war between them. Investigations so far point to traditional family jealousy as the primary cause.”
The situation worsened when Zara moved abroad with her husband. Eventually, the animosity led to this tragic murder.
