November 27, 2008	Thursday	Ziqa'ad 28, 1429

KARACHI, Nov 26: A 40-year-old man was strangled allegedly by his wife in their rented house in Lalabad, a shantytown near Quaidabad, in the small hours of Wednesday, police and witnesses said.

The Sukkun police said they had arrested Rasheeda Begum, 40, for the murder of Zahid, son of Mohammed Shafi, a Muslim coach driver. They said the woman, who was the victim’s second wife, smothered him with a crepe bandage at around 1am.

The police said the suspect told the neighbours in the morning that her husband had died a natural death. They said a mark of strangulation was noticed by the people when the victim was given ablution and one of them reported the matter to the police.

The area SHO, Akram Mughal, told Dawn that the police reached the spot and shifted the body to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for a postmortem examination.

He said the suspect was taken into custody and during preliminary interrogation she confessed to having killed the victim, who was her third husband.

The SHO said four years ago the victim had married Rasheeda, who was then a Christian. “The couple was childless and two children from the suspect’s second husband were living with them,” he added.

The police officer quoted the suspect as telling the investigators that her husband was drunk and lying on a sofa. “She wrapped the crepe bandage around his neck and tied it to the hand-rest of the sofa,” he added.

He said no case was registered till late as the police were still trying to locate the victim’s relative. “A case will be registered on behalf of the state in case no one from the victim’s side becomes a complainant against the suspect,” he added.

Shot dead

A 22-year-old man was shot dead and another wounded in an attack on their car in the small hours in Gulshan-i-Iqbal.

The police said that Ghiyas, son of Haji Abbas, was killed and Anver Khan, 27, wounded when unknown occupants of a white Toyata car opened fire on them at around 2.30am.

They said Ghiyas died on the spot and the wounded man was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

The police registered a murder case (FIR 632/08) against unidentified culprits on the complaint of the victim’s elder brother, Aziz Ullah.

The police said the victim was an Afghan national and the incident seemed to be motivated by a personal enmity.

Religious leader attacked

The car of a leader of the Shia Ulema Council was fired upon at around 3.45pm near Tariq Road.

The scholar, however, remained unhurt in the attack.

Later, he lodged an FIR (1228/08) against unknown culprits for trying to kill them, under Sections 324 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code.