Pregnant Woman Killed, Chopped Into Pieces In Pakistan's Sialkot, Mother-In-Law Among 3 Held

Police apprehended four suspects including the mother-in-law Sughran Bibi, her grandson Hamza, her daughter Yasmin, and distant relative Navid.

A pregnant woman was allegedly murdered and chopped her body in dozens before dumping it in a drain by her mother-in-law along with her three accomplices in the Punjab province of Pakistan, police said on Sunday.

According to a report by news agency PTI, the incident occurred last week in Daska, Sialkot district of Pakistan. In response, police apprehended four suspects including the mother-in-law Sughran Bibi, her grandson Hamza, her daughter Yasmin, and distant relative Navid.

The victim identified as, Zara Qadir, was in her 20s and went missing last week was found by the police with the chopped body in three sacks. Zara, the daughter of a police officer, married Qadir Ahmad four years ago and had a three-year-old son. She had recently returned to Pakistan after living with her husband in Saudi Arabia.

Mother-In-Law Suspects Zara Of Allegedly Practising 'Witchcraft': Police

Senior police officer, Omar Farooq, stated on Sunday that the suspects confessed to having killed and dismembered the body of the daughter of a police officer. "In her confessional statement, Sughran Bibi said that she suspected Zara of allegedly practising 'witchcraft'. Besides, her son Qadir had started sending money directly to Zara in her bank instead of to his mother," he said.

"The four suspects smothered Zara with a pillow while she was asleep. After that they burnt her face and chopped off her body into dozens of pieces before dumping it in a drain in three sacks," the police officer said adding that Zara was also pregnant.

"On Zara's father's statement that he suspected Sughran for claiming that she had run away with her lover upon her disappearance, we interrogated her (Sughran) who confessed to her crime," Farooq said.

 It was revealed that Sughran was also Zara's paternal aunt. "This is a case of extreme jealousy as the mother-in-law and her daughter not only killed Zara but in cold blood dismembered her body into pieces in hatred," Farooq added.

He further claimed that Sughran and Yasmin were of the view that because of Zara's good looks, Qadir was playing into her hands and ignoring them. A murder case has been filed against all the suspects.