Engineering varsity graduate Sajida was axed to death during visit from Australia

SARGODHA:
Sajida Tasneem, a mother of three who had arrived in Pakistan from Australia in May on a supposedly short trip, was axed to death allegedly by her father-in-law in Superior Town on June 11, according to the police report.

Tasneem’s only fault was that she had been demanding that her in-laws let her return to Australia with her children whereas her father-in-law Mukhtar Ahmed was adamant that he would not allow his grandchildren to be raised in a Western society.

Police spokesman Abid Hussain told The Express Tribune that the Satellite Town police had registered a murder case against Mukhtar, Sajida’s husband Ayub Ahmed, mother-in-law Fatima Bibi, and Mukhtar’s sons-in-law Furqan and Shehzad.

Police arrested the main accused, Mukhtar Ahmed, while steps were being taken to arrest others “involved in the conspiracy”, the spokesman said. The spokesman said that when Sajida had arrived from Australia, her father-in-law took her and her children’s passports from her under the pretext of safely keeping their documents.

As her scheduled date of departure for Australia drew nearer, Sajida asked her father-in-law for her and her children’s passports.

However, Mukhtar reportedly refused. This attitude shocked Sajida, and it dawned upon her that her in-laws’ insistence on her visiting Pakistan so that they could see their grandchildren had actually been a trap, sources said, citing the investigation.

All this while Sajida’s husband had been missing from the scene, since he lived in Bahrain where he had a job. Sajida Tasneem had not been willing to give in to her father-in-law’s demand that they stayed in Pakistan permanently.

A fully-fledged confrontation ensued, and on June 11 it escalated to the point where Sajida’s father-in-law allegedly axed her to death, the police said.

Sajida Tasneem, who was born in Salanwali tehsil of Sargodha, was a graduate of the NED University of Engineering and Technology in Karachi. Immediately after her graduation, her parents had her married to Muhammad Ayub, a resident of Superior Town in Sargodha. After their marriage, Ayub and Sajida moved to Saudi Arabia where they worked for a while. In the meantime, Sajida got a job offer from a company based in Perth, Australia, in 2013.

Sajida and her husband migrated to Australia. While living their Sajida gave birth to two daughters and a son. Along with her job, Sajida had herself enrolled in some courses to improve her career prospects.

After a few years, the family succeeded in obtaining the status of permanent residents.

Then appeared the coronavirus pandemic, and Sajida’s husband Ayub lost his job. He started working online. However, when the online work did not go well, he started applying for jobs in the Gulf countries. He was offered a good job in Bahrain, which he accepted immediately and moved to the state while Sajida and their children continued to live in Australia.

Before moving to Bahrain, Sajida’s husband Ayub and in-laws started insisting that she and the children visit Pakistan to meet their grandparents. Initially, Sajida had been reluctant to make the visit, but when the pressure on her increased, she thought she would make a short visit to Pakistan to have her children meet their grandparents and then return to Australia.

Meanwhile, Sajida’s father Sher Muhammad Khan has taken the custody of her three children.

He said he had never, ever raised his voice while talking to her, but “my daughter was brutally killed”.

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KARACHI: A journalist and social media activist reportedly went missing from the city`s Clifton area on Friday, while his friends and family claimed he was picked up by law enforcement agencies from his residence.

Arsalan Ahmed, who has remained associated with channels such as Geo, Abb Tak, Business Plus and A-Plus, is currently working as a freelance journalist and social media activist.

Arsalan`s wife Ayesha, in a video statement shared on social media, claimed that `14 to 15 armed Rangers personnel` entered their house at 4:30am on Friday and held the family at gunpoint.

They took away Arsalan in front of her and their children. She said when she asked where her husband was being taken and for what crime, she was told he was being detained forbeing vocal on social media.

In the video, she urged the institutions concerned to look into the case and help recover her husband.

However, SSP Asad Raza told Dawn the police had not detained the activist. So far, Khan`s family had not approached them with a complaint, he claimed.

In contrast, Ayesha told Dawn on Friday night that she had visited the Clifton police station to register an abduction case, but the police refused to lodge the FIR.

Meanwhile, the Karachi Bachao Tehreek (KBT), an alliance of various political and civil society organisations that Khan was a part of, expressed concern over the `abduction` of their volunteer, and announced a protest against it on Saturday (today).

Khurram Nayar, the KBT convener, told Dawn that Khan was a volunteer withthem. He alleged that the personnel of a law enforcement agency took away the activist from his apartment, close to the Russian consulate, in Clifton, at around 4am on Friday.

He alleged Khan`s family was also harassed, while the security personnel told his wife that her husband was being detained for being `too vocal`. They also took away his laptop and mobile phone. The KBT announced a protest on Saturday against the `enforced disappearance` of the activist.

Spealcing at a news conference at the Karachi Press Club on Friday evening, the KBT and other organisations demanded the immediate release of their volunteer as well as the detained affectees of Sultanabad.

They also expressed concern over the Sindh government`s `illegal` drive to demolish the homes of poor workers in Gujjar Nala, Orangi Nala, Mehmoodabad, Haji Lemo Goth, Sultanabad and Surjani Town and demanded it be halted immediately. The KBT also demanded all the affectees be compensated in compliance with SC orders.

On the other hand, police sources said Arsalan Khan was previously an associate of the late MQM MNA Ali Raza Abidi, and had lately been quite vocal in his support for MQM London, as well as criticism of varioussensitive agencies on social media.

The Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ) condemned the `arrest` of the social media activist and termed it a serious violation of the right to freedom of expression. They urged the authorities to take note of the incident.

KUJ general secretary Fahim Siddiqi and president Shahid Iqbal claimed Arsalan had been detained by law enforcement agencies. They conducted a raid on his residence in Clifton and took him away. The journalists` body urged the army chief, chief justice of Pakistan, the prime minister and interior minister to take immediate notice of Arsalan`s `illegal detention` and ensure his immediate release.

Moreover, international rights organisation Amnesty International also expressed concern over Khan`s `abduction` from his home in Karachi. `Pakistan must end this abhorrent practice of punishing dissent by wrenching people away from theirlovedones,`Amnesty`s South Asia regional office tweeted.

It asked the newly appointed Inter-Ministerial Committee on Missing Persons to take note of the `jarring disconnect between what they are saying and what is actually happening on the ground`.

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DADU: A female police constable was subjected to rape by her male colleague who also filmed the episode and made the videos viral on social media in Hala town near Matiari a day before.

Hala police arrested the alleged rapist, constable Yousuf Bilal, af ter the victim filed an FIR against him under Secdons 336, 337, 356b, 506 PPC on Friday.

The victim told local journalists that the constable had called him to a police official residence on the pretext of working on an inquiry against a certain suspect. He gave her a cup of tea mixed with some sedative drug, which made her fall uncon-scious and then he raped her and made videos of the episode, she said.

She said that her tormentor spread the videos on social media and was now trying to blackmail her.

Hyderabad range DIGP Syed Pir Mohammad Shah said that the alleged rapist would be punished according to law and speedy justice would be served to the victim.

He said that women police of ficials had been made duty officers and writing head constables at several police stations across the province for the first time in Sindh police`s history on the directives of Sindh IGP Ghulam Nabi Memon but such tragic incidents would prove highly discouraging for them.

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TOBA TEK SINGH: A man killed his minor daughter and injured his wife, two other daughters and a son critically at Chak 203-RB, Malikpur, in the limits of the Mansoorabad Police Station of Faisalabad on Friday.

According to police, suspect Zeeshan Shaukat attacked his wife and children with scissors and injured all of them and he ran out of home.

His father-in-law told reporters that Zeeshan, a van driver, was suspicious of the character of his wife, Shama Bibi (27), who he would of ten torture.

He said he was also at Zeeshan`s home when he started quarrelling with Shama. At this, the complainantimmediatelywent out to call his other daughter residing in the same village to cope with the situa-tion. On his return, he found Shama and her four grandchildren injured. Of them, three-year-old Anoosha was declared dead later on.

The rescuers shifted the injured to the Allied Hospital, Faisalabad.

They were identified as Shama, her son Talha (5) and her two daughters, Saman (2) and threemonth-old Huma.

Doctors said both the minor girls were in a serious condition.

Mansoorabad police arrested Zeeshan in the evening.

DROWNS: A minor boy drowned in a canal located on the Burj Mandi Road in tehsil Chak Jhumra.

Rescue 1122 reported that Sajjad Haider (5), a son of Saifullah, was playing near the bank of the canal when he slipped into it and drowned.

His body had been retrieved.

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LAHORE: An infant girl dumped by unidentified suspects in an empty plot near Nadeem Park on Amir Road, Shadbagh was recovered alive on Friday. The victim being alive started crying. Nearby people noticed and alerted police and Rescue 1122. The teams rushed to the spot and recovered her. She was handed over to Child Protection and Welfare Bureau (CP&WB).

Robbers injure woman on offering resistance: A woman was shot at and injured by firing by two unidentified suspected robbers for offering resistance during a house robbery attempt in Nishtar Colony on Friday.

Reportedly, the victim Sumera was inside her house when two suspected robbers climbed the wall to enter her house. They were carrying fire arms and threatened the victim. She on seeing the suspects started making noise. The suspects were panicked and opened firing leaving the victim severely injured. The suspects afterwards fled from the scene. Police said that they were investigating the matter and searching for the suspects.

Youth attempts suicide: A Turkey-returned youth attempted suicide outside a mosque in Misri Shah on Friday. The victim Fahad had a family and living in Turkey. He had returned to Pakistan few weeks back. On Friday, he offered prayers in a mosque. As he was returning home, he suddenly whipped out a gun and shot at himself. The victim received an injury in his head and was moved to a hospital. According to family, the victim was disturbed due to personal reasons.

4 arrested for violent clash: Rang Mahal police arrested four members of two groups for a violent clash on Friday. The arrested suspects belonged to Aftab Billa Group and Jajja Group and have been identified as Usama, Aftab, Khadim Jajja and Jibran. Police also recovered illegal heavy ammunition from their custody. A case was registered against them.

Protest: A large number of citizens staged a protest in Mughalpura as four persons including women were injured due to firing. Reportedly, the suspects identified as Khaaran Butt and Usama Butt to create panic among citizens had resorted to firing. As a result, four persons including two women had received injuries. It infuriated the public that gathered on Shalimar Link Road and closed it for every kind of traffic. The protestors left after holding a dialogue with police officers.

Woman, 73, found dead: A 73-year-old woman was found dead under suspicious circumstances from a house in Nishtar Colony on Friday. The victim had been living alone in State Life Society. On Friday, the neighbors noticed the foul smell emanating from her house and alerted police. A team rushed to the spot, removed the body to morgue and also collected forensic evidences from crime scene. The victim was identified as Sarwat Akhtar Bibi.

Cop injured: An Elite Police official was injured after mistakenly firing a bullet in Qila Gujjar Singh on Friday. The victim identified as Nadeem reportedly had mistakenly pressed the trigger. As a result, a bullet was fired that hit him in the chest. The victim was moved to a hospital.

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