A mother of five children was hacked to death in Tando Allahyar on Friday evening, police told Dawn.

Maya Bheel, 32, was killed with an axe allegedly by her husband, Preetam Bheel, in the village of Shadman Jarwar in Sindh's Tando Allahyar district when she was working in an agricultural field, Station House Officer of Misan Shahabuddin Umrani said.

Umrani noted that Kewal Bheel, brother of the deceased, filed a First Information Report (FIR) against the accused on Saturday, stating that his sister was "mercilessly murdered by her husband without any reason".

Also read: Fata’s forgotten women

The victim's body was handed over to her relatives after a post-mortem was carried out at Civil Hospital in Tando Allahyar.

Umrani added that the accused had fled the village and that police were conducting raids to capture him.

Hundreds of women are murdered every year in Pakistan, often by their own relatives. The Aurat Foundation’s annual report of 2016 showed 7,852 cases of violence against women.

More on this: Violence against women