CHAKWAL: In light of an anonymous letter which spurred the police action, the Neelah police in Chakwal district recovered a 32-year-old man and his 26-year-old sister, who had died due to starvation and cold, from a house after two years of captivity.

Jabeen Bibi died more than 10 days ago after the anonymous letter dated February 1 was sent to the Neelah police SHO while her brother Hassan Raza was not in a condition to record his statement due to trauma. The dead body was taken to the District Headquarters Hospital for autopsy while Hassan Raza was also admitted to the hospital for medical examination.

Police said the brother and sister were locked up without clothes and bedding without any access to proper food and their ordeal came to light after the letter was sent to the police. The communique stated that the siblings owned land worth millions of rupees. Their father had passed away two years ago while the mother died several years ago.

The letter, addressed to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, claimed the siblings had been held hostage by their cousin who wanted to grab their land and allegedly used drugs to affect their mental faculties.

Police act on anonymous letter, raid house in Chakwal’s village to rescue siblings

According to the letter, a woman in the neighbourhood provided them with food through a window and both siblings did not have proper clothes.

The police acted 11 days after the anonymous tip-off, inviting criticism that prompt action could have saved the life of Jabeen Bibi. SHO Sohaib Zafar, however, told Dawn that he had started an investigation the day he received the letter.

“On Wednesday, the contents of the letter were confirmed,” he said, adding that he had to obtain a search warrant to raid the house. “When we raided the said house on Wednesday evening…we found Jabeen Bibi dead,” the SHO said and added that the exact cause of the death could be ascertained through autopsy. “However it seems that the girl died due to hunger and cold,” he maintained. The frightened Hassan Raza was unable to speak. He was admitted to the DHQ Hospital for a medical examination.

“We have registered a case against the accused who will be arrested soon,” the SHO said referring to the cousin mentioned in the letter.

A villager told Dawn that Jabeen Bibi passed her intermediate with flying colours a few years ago. He said after the death of their parents, the siblings had no one to depend on. “They belong to the Chaudhry family. Their father was the headman of the village and both the siblings owned almost 700 kanal of agricultural land”, the villager said.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2025