SIALKOT, Dec 18: A councillor along with his accomplices allegedly chopped off the nose of the first wife of a villager after she reportedly refused to get divorce in Chhani Gondal village near Head Marala.

A first information report states Rehmat Khan recently married Yasmeen Bibi in the presence of his first wife, Aziz Bibi. Councillor Chaudhry Bilal Gondal asked Rehmat to divorce his first wife, which he refused.

The councillor then forced Aziz Bibi to get divorce from Rehmat but she resisted his pressure. Bilal is stated to be a relative of Yasmeen Bibi and to please her, he pressured Rehmat to divorce his first wife.

On Dec 16, the accused along with Ghulam Bari, Ikram, alias Kalu, Fiaz, Mohsin and Raza Shah broke into the house of Rehmat. They beat Aziz Bibi, cut her hair and took her to the councillor’s bungalow where Bari and others chopped off her nose. Later, the accused threw the victim in fields and fled. Aziz Bibi was admitted to the Kotli Loharan Rural Health Centre where doctors stitched her chopped nose.

Sialkot District Police officer Zubair Nawaz Chattha told Dawn that the Head Marala Police Station had registered a case under sections 148,149,337-A2, 337-H2, 354 and 452 of the Pakistan Penal Code against the councillor and others and the accused would be arrested soon.

The grieved family said that the accused were very influential and were threatening them with consequences for reporting the matter to police. They appealed to Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi and Punjab Inspector General of Police Ziaul Hassan to ensure the early arrest of the culprits.