OKARA: Forty-two people, including 17 nominated ones, were booked on Thursday for kidnapping a woman from the Dipalpur court premises over contracting a marriage of her choice four weeks ago and thrashing her husband.

The woman, Muqaddas Kanwal, had reached the magistrate’s court along with husband, Arsal Ramzan, to record her statement.

As per the first information report (FIR) registered on complaint of Arsal, he had contracted marriage with Muqaddas against the will of her family who registered an abduction case against him with the Hujra Shah Muqeem Police Station.

The couple reached the court of magistrate Noor Alam at Dipalpur to recording of statement in the abduction case but dozens of members of the family of Muqaddas were already there to kidnap her.

On their resistance, Arsal and his friend, Mushtaq, were thrashed and injured by the kidnappers.

The medicolegal certificates of the injured were issued by Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Dipalpur.

The Dipalpur City police registered a kidnapping and torture case against Waqar, Sher Afzal, Yasir Arafat, Ali Husnain, Ashraf, Bashir, Sadaf, Bushra, Khurshid Bibi, Nazia, Yasmin, Fida Hussain, Aslam, Arshad, Nazir and Kashif, and their 25 unidentified accomplices.

INJURED: A man shot at and injured his former wife before injuring himself with a gunshot over her refusal to reconcile with him.

An FIR was registered on complaint of Muhammad Nawaz, the father of Kaneez Fatima. He said his daughter had got her marriage with Asim dissolved thought court two months back and Asim started sending her death threats.

On Wednesday, Asim, his brother, Sunny, and two unidentified accomplices reached Nawaz’s house at Chak Jalal near Basirpur and asked Kaneez to go with him at gunpoint. When she refused to go with him, Asim opened fire on her and injured her. Later, he shot at and injured himself. Nawaz alleged that the suspects thrashed him, as well.

On receiving a call, police reached the spot and arrested Asim.

Kaneez was shifted to the Rural Health Centre Basirpur where the doctors referred her to the DHQ City Hospital and later she was sent to Lahore.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2021