A 24-year-old woman was allegedly killed by her husband in Karachi’s Landhi area on Monday, police officials said.

Quaidabad police said that the “tortured” body of the victim, identified as Fatima, was recovered from her home in the Sherpao Colony near Aqsa Masjid.

The body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for legal formalities. As of the time of writing, no first information report (FIR) related to the case had been filed with the police.

Quaidabad Police Station House Officer (SHO) Ghulam Husain Pirzada told Dawn.com that Fatima was strangled to death, quoting doctors’ reports.

“The police had detained Fatima’s husband upon the complaint of her sister,” SHO Pirzada said, adding that the suspect claimed his wife had died by suicide.

SHO Pirzada said that the couple married in 2017 and had two children. Three months ago, a quarrel erupted between them, and in a fit of anger, the suspect verbally divorced the victim.

A local religious scholar told the couple that their divorce proceedings would be complete within three months if they did not reconcile. The officer said that the three-month reconciliation period ended on Sunday and the couple had not reconciled their relationship.

During an initial probe, it transpired that the victim demanded her dowry and other valuables from her husband, which led to a heated argument. The matter escalated and ended in the suspect allegedly killing his wife, the police said.

According to SHO Pirzada, crime scene investigators said a rope was attached to a door, which the suspect alleges the victim used to take her own life. However, the official said that circumstantial evidence suggested the incident was not a suicide.

The official added that police were investigating the case further and added that an FIR would be filed under the provisions of murder when the victim’s sister approached the police.

In December 2023, the Asian Development Bank reported in a study that domestic violence was emerging as a silent pandemic in Pakistan, posing a serious challenge to society and the state.

The report, ‘Gendered Impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic in Central and West Asia’, quoted a survey carried out in Punjab and Sindh which reported an increase in threats of physical violence (40 per cent) and physical assault from spouses (46pc).

According to the report, development partners in Pakistan also stressed that the rate of violence against women and girls increased significantly due to the loss of livelihoods and restrictions, highlighting the importance of a change of narrative in the country.