LAHORE: A pregnant woman was torched to death allegedly by her brother-in-law over a family dispute in Shadbagh on Saturday.

Police claimed Sidra, 23, belonging to Shakargarh tehsil in Narowal district, was married to her cousin Waqas Ali of Bhagatpura, Shadbagh, two years ago.

On Saturday afternoon, Sidra was sleeping and the other family members were away when her husband’s elder brother, Waris Ali, came with a container of petrol. He went to the room where Sidra was sleeping, sprinkled petrol there, set it on fire and fled after locking it from outside.

Police said his sister’s six-year-old daughter, who was playing in the street, raised hue and cry after seeing fire in the house. Neighbours tried to extinguish the fire and also alerted police and Rescue 1122.

Firefighters reached the spot and put off the blaze in 30 minutes and recovered the woman’s body. Police shifted the body to morgue for autopsy.

Shadbagh police registered a murder case against Waris and his other family members on the complaint of victim’s father Liaquat Ali.

Station House Officer Mudassirullah Khan said they were alerted by neighbours about a fire but it was revealed that a woman had been torched to death by her brother-in-law over a property dispute. He said raids were being conducted to arrest the suspect.

City Division Superintendent of Police (SP) Operations Muhammad Naveed told Dawn Sidra was burnt to death by her brother-in-law over a property dispute. She was previously engaged to Waris, but when he went abroad his family married her off to his younger brother.

He said Waris worked in Saudi Arabia and learnt about the marriage only when he returned. The suspect had developed a grudge against his brother and his former fiancée over the marriage as well as a property dispute and according to locals they often quarrelled over the issue.

The SP claimed the suspect was demanding his share in the family business and after failing to get it he killed his brother’s wife. He said two teams had been constituted to conduct raids to arrest the suspect, adding some family members were also taken into custody for interrogation.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2016