KARACHI: Police on Thursday arrested six suspects for allegedly killing a couple after a decision of a Jirga in Shah Latif Town on Tuesday, according to officials.

The held suspects included three brothers and an ex-husband of the woman.

According to the police, both the victims, Azmat Jalal and Irfana, had fled their homes and tied the knot of their own free will some three years ago. Since then they had been living in Orangi Town. Just three days ago, their relatives traced them and invited them to Shah Latif Town for a family patch-up but a jirga comprising their elders gave a verdict for their murder on the pretext of bringing shame to their families.

“Police acting on information that a woman and a man have been killed in the name of honour after a Jirga held in Shah Latif Town on Tuesday night conducted multiple raids on Wednesday and arrested six suspects,” said Malir SSP Javed Akbar Riaz.

The SSP told Dawn that Irfana had developed differences with her former husband over some issue some three years ago. She fled her home and married with Azmat. The couple got settled near Banaras Chowk in Orangi Town.After the jirga decision, three suspects including her former husband took Irfana to a room where they allegedly strangled her to death. Three other suspects took the man, Azmat, to a park late Tuesday night where they killed him with the help of a rope.

The following day, their funeral was held and the couple was buried in a local graveyard of Shah Latif Town.

In the meantime, area people informed the police that the couple had been killed. Subsequently, the police conducted raids late Wednesday night and arrested the six suspects — identified as Saeed Nawaz, Sarfraz Khan and Umer Nawaz (brothers of the woman), Lal Qadir alias Tarboori, Hidayatullah alias Hidyato and Ishaq — who “confessed” to have killed the couple as per jirga decision.SSP Riaz said that no one among the relatives was willing to become complainant in the double murder case. The police finally registered a murder case against the suspects on behalf of the state, he added.

Meanwhile, IG Police A.D. Khowaja took notice of the incident and ordered DIG East to hold an immediate inquiry into the killing and submit a detailed report to him.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2016