Wanted Pakistani man allegedly killed seven family members because his daughter married against his wish
The only survivor from the family filed a police complaint against the two men involved
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Your support makes all the difference.A man in Pakistan is wanted by the police for allegedly killing seven members of his family, including his two daughters and four grandchildren, because one of the women married against his wishes.
Manzoor Hussain, the father of Fauzia Bibi and Khurshid Mai, allegedly set their house on fire in Muzaffargarh district of Pakistan’s Punjab province on Sunday, in a case of what the police believe is “family rivalry.”
Bibi, her four-months-old son, Mai, her husband, and their three children — aged two, six and 13 — perished in the fire.
A complaint against Mr Hussain and his son Sabir Hussain was registered by the only surviving member of the family — Bibi’s husband Mehboob Ahmad. Mr Ahmad said he escaped the “honour killing” as he was away on a business trip at the time of the incident, the Dawn newspaper reported.
Mr Ahmad and Bibi were married in 2020, allegedly against her father’s wishes. He told the police that he saw his father-in-law and brother-in-law running away.
“I was in Multan for business. When I returned and was near my home, I saw it in flames. Two men Manzoor Hussain and Sabir Hussain were seen fleeing the spot,” he told the police.
“The incident is the outcome of the rivalry between the two families over the love marriage,” police officer Abdul Majeed told Reuters.
The police said firefighters were able to retrieve the seven bodies from the house and have sent them for autopsy.
Punjab chief minister Usman Buzdar has sought a report of the incident from authorities and said the case will be investigated from “from every aspect”.
Honour killings are common in some south Asian countries where families are governed through rigid patriarchal norms passed down through generations and women are discouraged from choosing their own life partners.
Pakistan records about 1,000 cases of honour killing every year, according to the Human Rights Watch.
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