RAWALPINDI, Dec 12: A 70-year-old woman was beaten and strangled to death by two of her neighbours over a petty issue in a Tench Bhatta street on Sunday.

Police said Mazhar Hussain and his brother Zahid Hussain had a brawl with the woman over littering of garbage in the street.

Fayyaz Mehmood Bhatti, the son of the deceased woman, in his complaint to the police said he was on duty when he received a phone call from his brother’s wife that his mother was beaten to death by two men living in the same locality.

Bhatti said on reaching home he was informed by his sister-in-law Rubina Ayaz that she was cleaning the street in front of her house when Zahid Hussain started using foul language against her.

She said as she went to Zahid’s house to register protest with his family, Zahid and his brother’s wife dragged her into the street. On hearing her screams, her mother-in-law Hafeezan, 70, rushed to her rescue but she was overpowered by Zahid and his brother Mazhar.

She said her mother-in-law was beaten by both the men and later strangled by Zahid in the street.

“She was killed on the spot. The two accused have been booked on the charge of murder; however, they have not been arrested,” said police Sub-Inspector Idrees.

The body of the victim was handed over to her family after postmortem conducted at the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ).

Meanwhile, a sweeper of Rawalpindi Cantonment Board was killed in a traffic accident on Airport Road.

Asad, said to be in his 30s, was crossing the road when a speeding car hit him and sped away.

In another incident, a domestic servant died of suffocation due to gas leakage in his room at Chaklala Scheme III.

Police said Mohammad Riaz, 15, who worked as a house servant with Abdul Khaliq slept in his room leaving a gas heater burning.

“The room was filled with gas when his employer opened the door,” the police investigating officer said.