GUJRAT: In what appears to be an honour-related crime, a couple contracting love marriage was stabbed to death by the brother of the young woman, who tied the knot without her family’s consent, at Lalke village in Hafizabad district.
As per police sources, Afzal (25) of Lalke village had contracted love marriage with Samra Shahzadi (20) of the same village against the will of their respective families. After marriage, the couple started living in Sheikhupura.
On Monday last, the couple visited the graveyard at Lalke village, where Samra had to offer fateha on the grave of her late mother.
As the couple was in the graveyard, Samra’s brother Shahid Abbas arrived there and attacked them with a knife, leaving the husband and wife dead on the spot.
The suspect fled the scene after committing double murder.
On being informed of the incident, a police team reached the spot, collected evidence and shifted the bodies to the hospital. Doctors conducted autopsies and handed over the bodies to the respective families of the deceased man and woman.
A team of the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) also collected the evidence from the crime scene.
A spokesman for Hafizabad police says Shahid is arrested and a case of double murder has been registered against him. Further investigation is underway, he adds.
ARRESTED: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) claimed to have arrested eight alleged human traffickers during a crackdown in the Gujranwala region on Tuesday.
A spokesman for FIA says the arrested suspects also include a proclaimed offender, Hamza Salman, wanted in a case of human trafficking.
Other arrested suspects include Parvez, Shafqat Ali, Mubashar Ali, Asif, Ghulam Murtaza, Shahzad Khizer and Khurram Shahzad Bhalli.
The suspects, he says, are involved in a Rs34.6 million financial scam. They allegedly extorted the amount from the complainants on the pretext of sending them to Canada, Italy, Saudi Arabia and other countries.
One of the suspects had sent a man to Libya, instead of Italy, whereas another suspect sent a client, on a fake visa, to Sweden, from where he was deported back to Pakistan.
The spokesman says that at least four suspected human traffickers were arrested by the Gujrat FIA circle, whereas Gujranwala and Sialkot circles arrested two suspects each, during the crackdown.
He adds that the Gujranwala FIA circle has planned an awareness walk on Wednesday (today) to highlight the dangers of attempting to go abroad through illegal human traffickers.
The walk, led by Gujranwala FIA Director Muhammad Bin Ashraf, will be held in collaboration with the University of Gujranwala. Students and civil society representatives will participate in the event.
Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2026
