CHAKWAL: Police have yet to recover a woman who was allegedly abducted by her relatives on Thursday in front of the district courts complex after she married against her parents’ will.

The 25-year-old victim is from the Jheek Daiwal village in Jhelum district’s Sohawa tehsil. She was due to appear before a civil judge in Chakwal to record a statement when she, along with her brother-in-law, was allegedly attacked by her father, brothers and other relatives.

The suspects then abducted her and took her to an unknown location. The police have registered a case against the woman’s father, three brothers, two uncles, a police official and 40 other relatives, but none of the suspects have been arrested and the victim has not been recovered.

A student at a technical college in Mulhal Mughlan village, the woman eloped with a resident of a neighbouring village who was the brother of one of her classmates on May 29. According to a copy of the marriage certificate and an application the woman filed before a judge in Rawalpindi, available with Dawn, the couple were married in Rawalpindi’s Aafandi Colony the same day.

Also on May 29, the woman’s father told Dohman police his daughter had been kidnapped by her husband, his younger brother and their sister.

According to the application the woman filed on June 1 before the civil magistrate in the Morgah police area, she said her father, brothers and uncles came to her house in Aafandi Colony and tried to make her leave with them, but she refused, at which point her father allegedly slapped her and also abused her husband.

In the application, the woman said her parents wanted her to marry someone she did not wish to marry, and she had instead chosen to marry according to her own will. She also said her life and her husband’s life were at risk from her relatives.

On June 7, the woman and her brother-in-law travelled to Chakwal to appear before a civil judge where she would give a statement saying she married of her own will and was not kidnapped.

“The investigating officer Raja Mazhar did not present the record of the case filed by [her] father against us on June 7. The court ordered him to come, along with the record, on June 8,” her brother-in-law told Dawn.

He added that the investigating officer also informed the woman’s father about the June 8 hearing.

“As we reached the gate of the district courts, [her] father, brothers and 40 other relatives attacked us and abducted her. The investigating officer is also involved in the abduction, as he facilitated the attempt,” he claimed.

“We are worried about her life, as she might be killed by her father and brothers.”

When contacted, investigating officer Munir Ahmed said he was doing his best to locate the victim. “We have raided the home of the [woman’s] father in the village, but no one was present there. We are trying our best to safely recover the girl,” he said.

Repeated attempts were made to get the version of the girl’s father but his mobile number, which he gave to the police at the time of filing a case of kidnapping of his daughter on May 29, remained switched off.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2017