PESHAWAR, Jan 21: Three daughters of a woman, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances on Dec 22 from the Charssada district, have appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to provide them protection from the killers of their mother.

Hussan Zari disappeared on Dec 22, and her daughters alleged that her second husband, Pervez Khan, and some of his accomplices were behind the kidnapping and later killing of their mother for the sake of property worth millions of rupees.

"The police have failed to recover the body of my mother although the prime accused in the case, Pervez, has confessed before police to killing our mother," said Gulab Zari, the elder daughter of Hussan Zari, while talking to Dawn.

Accompanied by their nine-year-old mentally-retarded brother, Omar Farooq, the three sisters -- Gulab Zari, Noor Fatima and Kulsoom -- told Dawn that they had been constantly receiving threats from the accused, and being poor they were not in a position to protect themselves.

"The accused have occupied my father’s movable and immovable properties including land, a spacious residence and a vehicle and due to same reasons they had killed our mother," said Fatima.

"The chief justice have taken notice in other cases. Therefore, we appeal to him to take notice of our plight and help us in getting possession of our properties," the three sisters pleaded, adding that they were all married and their husbands were poor labourers who could not withstand the pressure of the accused. The three accused, Pervez Khan, Malik Amanul Mulk and Bacha, were arrested after the disappearance of Hussan Zari, and after remaining in police custody for three days they were sent to prison. As the body of Hussan Zari is yet to be recovered, officials of the Nisatha Police Station, Charssada, registered a case under Section 364 of the of the Pakistan Penal Code dealing with kidnapping of a person for the purpose of killing.

"The police told us that Pervez, during interrogation, has confessed to throwing the body of our mother in Jendae river. We searched the body in the river but could not trace ," said Naeemullah, husband of Gulab Zari.

He said that as the river was almost dry, therefore it was impossible for Pervez to throw the body there, and it appeared to them that he was lying to the police.

Some journalists of the Charssada Press Club told Dawn that the accused had also threatened them, asking them not to give coverage to the issue.

“We published stories of Hussan Pari when she had staged a sit-in near the Press Club on Oct 16, fearing that she would be harmed by her second husband and the other accused for occupying her properties," said Syed Shah Raza Shah, the vice-chairperson of the Charssada Press Club.

He said that after Hussan Zari’s disappearance when the journalists raised the issue the accused sent messages to them to avoid such coverage in future in the media. Even during the police custody, the accused were given VIP treatment and due to same reasons the police were reluctant to recover the body of the woman.

Narrating their ordeal, Gulab Zari said that her father, Syed Ali Shah, died seven years ago, leaving behind different properties including a car. She said that Malik Aman and Bacha posed themselves as their well-wishers and advised her mother to marry Pervez, her driver, about two years ago.

"They told my mother that in our social setup it is difficult for a woman to live without protection of a man. Pervez was about 15 years younger than my mother and was already married," she said. She said because of this situation, her mother married Pervez but a few months ago she realised that the three accused were interested in her property, and staged the sit-in near the press club.