KARACHI, Feb 9: A man was arrested on Monday for killing his 25-year-old wife minutes before her burial in Bilal Colony, witnesses and police said.

The Korangi Industrial Area police said that the suspect, Mohammed Sajjad, was arrested for allegedly killing his wife, Azra Khatoon.

They said that the suspect tortured his wife to death at around 2.30pm on Sunday and he told the neighbours that his wife died during a difficult delivery.

The police said that one of the neighbours informed the police on Monday morning that the man had killed the woman and he was trying to cover up the murder by claiming that his wife died while giving birth to a baby.

They said that the police reached the spot minutes before the body could be taken to the graveyard for burial.

The police said the man, a labourer, was taken into custody immediately and the body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for a post-mortem examination.

They said that preliminary report by the medico-legal officer, who conducted the autopsy on the victim’s body, suggested that the woman was killed due to severe torture.

Sources at the medico-legal section of the JPMC told Dawn that the victim was not pregnant.

The police said that the suspect was arrested and booked in the FIR (152/2009) under Section 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code on behalf of the state.

They said that the couple hailed from Hazara, the NWFP, and efforts were being made to locate their relatives.

The police said that the couple had married 10 months ago.

Woman commits ‘suicide’

A 30-year-old woman, mother of three, died in mysterious circumstances in Baldia Town.

The Saeedabad police said that the family of the woman, Tarrannum, wife of Usman, claimed that she had committed suicide by hanging herself.

They said that the body was shifted to the Civil Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

The police said that according to the hospital’s medico-legal section the body bore some marks of torture besides marks around the neck.

They said that the final post-mortem report was reserved till the chemical examination report.

The police said that the woman’s husband, a factory worker, had two wives who lived in the same house in Sector 8.

They said that Tarrannum was the first wife of Usman and he has two children from his second wife.

Killed in accident

A 32-year-old man was killed and three others were wounded when two minibuses collided with each other near City Courts on M. A. Jinnah Road.

The dead and the injured were shifted to the Civil Hospital where the deceased was identified as Abdul Khalil, son of Saleh Mohammed, a resident of Metroville, Site, and the injured as Chaudhry Mohammed Asghar, son of Chaudhry Mohammed Sarwar, 32, Safdar, son of Noor Mohammed, 42, Mohammed Aslam, 26, and Ateeq Ahmed, 50.

The Preedy police said that the driver of the minibuses bearing registration numbers PE-5141 and PE-3357 fled the scene immediately after the accident abandoning their vehicles which were impounded by the police.

The police registered a case (190/2009) against unidentified drivers of the two minibuses under Sections 320 and 337-G of the Pakistan Penal Code for killing a man and injuring four others by their reckless driving on the complaint of the injured, Chaudhry Asghar. The police said that efforts were being made to track down the absconding drivers.

Woman killed in apartment fire

A 55-year-old woman was killed late on Monday night when a fire broke out in her Clifton apartment, witnesses and police said.

They said that the victim, identified as Mrs Siraj, was a Bengali-speaking woman and ran a boutique in Saddar.

The Frere police said that the woman alone lived at Perdesi Pride and her only daughter was married and abroad.

Fire brigade sources said that the charred body of the woman was lying on the floor in her bedroom. They said that the fire broke out probably by a gas heater that was found near the victim’s bed. The body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for a post-mortem examination.

Factory worker shot dead

A 60-year-old factory worker was shot dead late on Monday night at Quaidabad.

Police said that the victim, Khuda Bux, son of Ghulam Hussain Chandio, a resident of Korangi, was on his way along with his 18-year-old paternal nephew, Tariq, when two attackers opened fire on him at the Quaidabad Bridge.

They said that the victim, who hailed from Multan, received two bullets and died before he could be taken to hospital.

The police said that the incident seemed to be motivated by a personal enmity.