The couple had been married for 3 months
Srinagar: In Saderkoot (SK) Payeen village of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, the 22-year-old woman who had only been married for 3 months was murdered allegedly by her husband.
On December 21, the 3-month old bride, Afroza did not come out of her room in the morning. The room was locked from inside. The neighbours suspected something unusual and called up the police.
After reaching the spot, police opened the door and saw that Afroza was lying lifeless on the bed.
They could not locate her husband, Shabir Ahmad Pahloo, 28, in the room as he had already run away in the dead of night from the window of the room.
No member of his family was in the house when police came in.
All the family members were absconding but later were arrested by the police from different locations.
According to the relatives of Shabir, the marriage life of the duo was not proven successful after Shabir had fights with Afoza many times during the first seven days of the marriage. The relatives say that Shabir was not interested in marrying the woman however, his father had forced this marriage on him.
“Shabir did not want to marry a girl from Laharwalpora. This village is 25 km away from SK Payeen which is located on the banks of Wular Lake. The people of Laharwalpora are illiterate and the village is extremely backward. It was a mismatch marriage. Shabir’s father did not listen to his son and married him with Afroza,” said one of Shabir’s relatives.
In the last week of September, Afrooza and Shabir got married but their marriage did not last for more than seven days.
“Afroza was left in her parent’s home only after seven days of their marriage because Shabir had a fight with Afroza’s relatives. Aforza was very scared and she did not want to go back with her husband. She was living in her father’s home for the last three months,” the relative said.
As per the family, Afroza’s father did not allow her daughter to go with them as he feared that they might do anything untoward with his daughter. The family had sought a personal bond from Shabir and his family that they will not harass their daughter again.
“It was not only after signing bond we sent our daughter with them but look what they did to her. If they did not want her in their home, they could have opted for divorce but they murdered my daughter,” said Ghulam Mohammad Dar, Aforza’s father.
“She had strangulation marks on her neck, one of her eyes was bruised and she had scratches on her face. Her arms also were bruised. They have beaten her before killing,” said the elder sister of Afroza.
On December 15, Afroza returned to her husband’s home and both of them were living separately from Shabir’s parents but it did not prove fruitful.
Merely five days after Afroza returned to her husband, Sahbir strangulated Afroza to death with her scarf.
On the dreadful night Afoza has called her brother at 6 in the evening to speak to her brother but he was not home.
“I called her back after an hour but her phone was switched off. We thought that her phone battery might have drained out but little did we know that she was struggling for her life,” said the aggrieved brother.
Dar refuted the claims that were circulated in local media that Afroza and Shabir had a fight over Mahar and jewellery. He said there is no reality in it.
“Afroza’s jewellery and Mahar was with her,” he further added.
Dar’s family apprehend that Shabir along with his father are involved in the cold blooded murdered of their daughter.
“Although, Shabir is accepting his crime but he is not alone involved in this crime. His father is also involved in it. He is defending his father by taking the responsibility of the crime. We want a fair probe so that our daughter will rest in peace,” said Nazir Ahmad, a relative of Aforza.
The Police Station has registered case and FIR under section 302 (murder) has been charged and further investigation is going on.
“The woman had been strangulated to death by her husband. Shabir had revealed that he murdered his wife in between 7pm to 10pm. We are investigating the matter and relevant charges will be added during investigation,” said a police official.
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