MUZAFFARGARH: A woman who was allegedly burnt by her husband on April 2 for giving birth to a girl died in the Nishtar Hospital Multan on Sunday after fighting for life for 35 days.

The incident had taken place at Chowk Sarwar Shaheed in Chak 589-TDA. According to the first information report, Muhammad Sajid and his father Umar Hayat had set the Rashida Parveen and her eight-month-old daughter Eman Fatima on fire.

Muhammad Younas, father of Rashida, told the police that he had found his daughter and granddaughter unconscious in their burning house. He shifted them to the Nishtar Hospital Multan. He registered a case with the Chowk Sarwar Shaheed Police Station against Sajid and his father Umar. The baby recovered after treatment but Rashida succumbed to her burns on Sunday.

The suspects had got pre-arrest bail while now the police now added Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code in the case.

Talking to Dawn, Station House Officer Muhammad Idrees said the police were looking into the matter from different angles as some family clash also might be the cause of the incident besides the girl’s birth.

LAND RETRIEVED: The district administration has demolished as many as 1,187 houses built ‘illegally’ on Sardar Kauray Khan Jatoi land at Jatoi Shumali, Rampur, Shahbazpur, Mauza Jatoi Janobi and Rao areas during the last one week.

Talking to Dawn on Sunday, Deputy Commissioner Saif Anwar Jappa claimed that 700 kanal more land was retrieved from grabbers and “now it has been given to different people on Rs2 million per year lease.”

On Saturday, he said, 6,100 maund wheat was collected from [land grabbers] and sold to the food department while cases were registered against ‘illegal’ occupants.

He said on April 10, the auction of wheat crop on 417 acre land was held. He said the amount was deposited with the treasury. “These funds will be spent on the welfare [health and education] of the Muzaffargarh district.”

The DC said now all land had been retrieved and some area was eroded by the Indus.

Dawn learnt that the Sardar Kauray Khan Jatoi land was [allegedly] misused by the district officials. The Supreme Court has directed the district and sessions judge to hear the case moved by [locals] Muzaffar Ali Maggsi and Syed Mansoor Shah in 1993. Sardar Kauray Khan had been donated 84,000 kanal land for the welfare of the district before the Partition.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2017