The bodies of the teenaged couple, allegedly electrocuted for contracting a free will marriage, will be exhumed for postmortem examination on Wednesday in the supervision of a magistrate and a medico-legal officer, SHO Shah Latif Town Amanullah Marwat told Dawn on Tuesday.

Initial investigation into the murder suggests that the family members of the couple gave them electric shocks until they died before secretly burying the bodies at a graveyard in Sherpao Colony, Ali Hasan Brohi goth, he said.

Earlier while talking to Dawn, Malir SSP Rao Anwar said that the police came to know about the dual murder through an informer and a case was filed on behalf of the state. Subsequently, police arrested the fathers as well as some other family members of both the victims.

The families were enraged over the marriage of the 15-year-old girl and the 17-year-old boy, who had run away from their houses last month, he added.

The accused confessed to their crime, according to the police, and revealed that a jirga was involved in declaring death sentence to both the victims.

Hundreds of women are murdered every year in Pakistan, often by their own relatives, for going against their families' wishes in matters of love and marriage.

The Aurat Foundation’s annual report of 2016 showed 7,852 cases of violence against women.

According to Saima Munir, who works for the Aurat Foundation, there has been a 70 per cent increase in honour killings in the past year.

Opinion

Editorial

Plugging the gap
06 May, 2024

Plugging the gap

IN Pakistan, bias begins at birth for the girl child as discriminatory norms, orthodox attitudes and poverty impede...
Terrains of dread
Updated 06 May, 2024

Terrains of dread

Restored faith in the police is unachievable without political commitment and interprovincial support.
Appointment rules
06 May, 2024

Appointment rules

IT appears that, despite years of wrangling over the issue, the country’s top legal minds remain unable to decide...
Hasty transition
Updated 05 May, 2024

Hasty transition

Ostensibly, the aim is to exert greater control over social media and to gain more power to crack down on activists, dissidents and journalists.
One small step…
05 May, 2024

One small step…

THERE is some good news for the nation from the heavens above. On Friday, Pakistan managed to dispatch a lunar...
Not out of the woods
05 May, 2024

Not out of the woods

PAKISTAN’S economic vitals might be showing some signs of improvement, but the country is not yet out of danger....