TOBA TEK SINGH: A young girl named Adeela Bibi was reportedly burned alive by her father Muhammad Akram Jat allegedly with the assistance of his family for honour.

The family hurriedly buried the body without notifying the police.

Someone informed Gojra Saddar police that arrested Jat and his son Abdul Islam of Chak 360-JB, Boobak. They gave contradictory statement which did not match to each other over which police registered a case.

The police said the body would be exhumed for an autopsy after getting permission from the court.

KILLED: Muhammad Akram, 75, was found murdered in his home in the Islampura locality of Toba Tek Singh.

His nephew, Muhammad Hayat, filed an FIR with Toba City police, stating that Akram had lived alone and had no surviving children. The man had been married four times, but all marriages ended in divorce, the last occurring 17 years ago.

Hayat reported that retired college director Chaudhry Nasim Tahir was a frequent visitor to Akram. He discovered the open gate to Akram’s house and found him bound and deceased.

The body was shifted to DHQ hospital for an autopsy.

SEMINAR: Dr Mazhar Abbas, principal investigator of a Higher Education Commission-funded project on women’s land rights, organised a national seminar at the Government College University Faisalabad titled ‘Empowering Women Through Land Rights: Advancing SDGs in Pakistan’.

Dr Asia Saif Alvi, chairperson of Political Science at the University of Sargodha, spoke on the crucial link between women’s rights to land and property, economic independence and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She said that without ensuring these rights, women’s economic independence — and, by extension, the achievement of SDG 5 (Gender Equality) — would remain elusive.

Dr Muhammad Abrar Zahoor, chairman of the Department of History and Pakistan Studies at the University of Sargodha, said that depriving women of land rights reflects a broader denial of their existence and development.

Dr Abbas said that land in Pakistan symbolises power, and until men are willing to share these resources, true empowerment for women remains a distant goal.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2024