KARACHI: A newly-wed woman was found dead in Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and her family registered a murder case against unknown persons, officials said.

South DIG Syed Asad Raza told Dawn that the body of 17-year-old Zainab was found on the rooftop of a residential building in Badar Commercial, Phase-V.

He said she, along with her husband, arrived in Karachi two weeks ago from Sialkot and were residing at their aunt’s flat.

On Monday evening, the girl reportedly went to the rooftop of the building and did not come back. Her aunt went upstairs and found her unconscious near a water tank. She was taken to a nearby private clinic in DHA and later to a hospital in Clifton, where doctors pronounced her dead.

Later, the body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for medico-legal formalities. “A dupatta was knotted twice around her neck,” the DIG added.

The officer said the police are investigating the matter as the deceased woman’s father alleged that his daughter was murdered by strangulation. He said that some close relatives of the woman were taken into custody for questioning.

Later, the Darakhshan police registered a murder case on the complaint of her father against unknown persons.

The complainant told the police that he received information from a relative at 7:30pm that his daughter’s health had deteriorated and she was being taken to Ziauddin Hospital in Clifton. He was about to go to the hospital when he received another call from the relative, informing him that his daughter had died and her body was being taken to the JPMC.

He said he was informed at the JPMC’s emergency by the relative of his son-in-law that around 4pm to 5pm on Monday, his daughter went to the roof of the apartment and did not return after a considerable time.

The complainant said that unidentified person(s) had strangulated his daughter due to unknown reasons, and he wanted legal proceedings against them.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2025