JHELUM VALLEY (Kashmir English): The death of a young married woman, whose body was found on December 26 at Chham waterfall, an adjacent area of Chinari in Jhelum Valley district, had its drop scene in 10 days.
The woman was murdered in the name of honour by her parents, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and a cousin. The JIT completed its investigation and arrested the parents, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and cousin involved in the murder and locked them up.
On December 26, the body of Shaista Bibi, wife of Majid Hussain Gujjar, a young married woman residing in Chham area of Jhelum Valley district, Azad Kashmir, was found at Chham waterfall.
Chinri Police Station, finding the incident suspicious, conducted a post-mortem of the body despite the refusal of the heirs. The post-mortem found no evidence of suicide, and while the girl had injuries to her head and back, all other ribs were intact.
The parents and in-laws at that time took the stance that the woman was possessed by jinns who took her to the waterfall and killed her.
Woman’s autopsy
Despite most evidence of the woman’s murder emerging during the post-mortem, the heirs refused to register a case.
After the murder case was continuously highlighted in the media, the police took action. SP Jhelum Valley Syed Abbas Shah formed a JIT comprising DSP Malik Rizwan, DSP Sayab Abbasi, SHO City Police Station Hattian Bala Manzar Hussain Chughtai, and SHO Police Station Chinari Chaudhry Mumtaz for an impartial investigation of the case.
The JIT registered a murder case of the deceased woman under Section 302 PC at the behest of the victim’s father-in-law Chaudhry Abdul Aziz son of Abdul Rahman Gujjar resident of Chham, and started investigation/inquiry, taking several individuals, including women, into custody.
According to sources, during the investigation, it was revealed that the deceased woman’s husband was abroad for work, and the heirs suspected Shaista of having illicit relations with someone, so her father-in-law had sent the girl to her father’s house.
That same night, the woman’s father Abdul Hameed, father-in-law Abdul Aziz, mother, mother-in-law, and a cousin named Naseer killed her under a plan.
Sources said that the woman’s father first hit her back with a stone, causing her to fall unconscious. After that, her father killed her by hitting the back of her head with a stone.
The murderers left her near Chham waterfall at 3 AM and spread a rumor in the village that Shaista had disappeared from home at night and her body was found at Chham waterfall in the morning.
