MANSEHRA/LOWER DIR: Two couples were killed in Mansehra and Lower Dir, the police said on Friday.

SHO Saddar police station Rabbawaz said a newlywed couple was strung up in a tree on Thursday by the woman’s family in Batrair area on the outskirts of Mansehra city for marrying of their free will on July 17.

He said the police had arrested three of the six accused, who invited the couple to the area from Islamabad and hanged them from a tree after severe torture.

A complainant lodged an FIR with the police, insisting that the father of his daughter-in-law trapped the couple by promising to ‘pardon’ them over court marriage through a jirga.

“The father of his daughter-in-law and five other members of his family badly tortured the couple and strung them in a tree outside their home,” he said.

The police shifted the bodies to the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital for postmortem.

Meanwhile, a man ended his life after reportedly killing his wife on Eid day in Sanam Adenzai area of Lower Dir on Friday, residents and police said.

A son of the deceased man informed the Asbanr police that his father shot himself in the head after firing on his mother. He claimed the deceased was a psycho patient, adding his parents often quarreled over petty issues.

The complainant said both his father and mother succumbed to injuries while being shifted to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, Chakdara.

The police registered a case and started further investigations. Close friends of the deceased man said he had been upset for last two weeks as he was unable to buy his children new clothes for Eid.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2021