Punjab govt confirms Sania Zehra was killed by her husband, mother-in-law

The Punjab government on Monday confirmed that Sania Zehra, a 20-year-old pregnant woman who was found dead in Multan, was murdered by her husband, Syed Ali Raza Bukhari, and mother-in-law, Azra Jeewan Shah.

Provincial Information Minister Azma Bukhari held a press conference in lahore flanked by Chairperson of the Women Protection Authority Hina Pervaiz Butt.

During the presser, Bukhari said that evidence indicates Zehra was killed, not died by suicide.

"No evidence of suicide was found in the Sania Zehra case. The mother-in-law and husband had put a noose around the girl's neck together," she said.

Bukhari explained that the forensic lab report and injury marks on Sania Zehra's neck and shoulder prove it was a murder case. 

She added that the dupatta tied around her neck was not the cause of death, but rather an attempt to make it look like suicide.

The minister, a criminal lawyer herself, said that the evidence, including DNA samples from Sania Zehra's nails matched with her husband and her mother-in-law.

"Forensic lab traces such cases. Forensics have found evidence against Sania's mother-in-law and husband," said the minister.

She praised Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz for taking steps towards women's betterment and working on virtual police stations.

Background:

The harrowing incident came to light on July 9 after an Instagram page, Justice for Sania, shared the details of the ordeal.

The page, citing a forensic report, claimed that the incident of killing took place on July 8 and Sania's parents were informed by the police on July 9.

According to the handle, the victim's husband brutally tortured her, cutting her tongue, breaking her teeth, and crushing her feet.

Sania, who had two boys, 3 years old and 1.5 years old, was also raped before being killed by her husband.

After taking life of the 5-month pregnant girl, the suspect allegedly hung her body with a ceiling fan to portray the killing as a suicide.

Later, the victim girl's father, Syed Assad Abbas Shah, had claimed that her in-laws were trying to cover up the murder.

Shah also alleged that his son-in-law had killed his daughter for money and property.

On the other hand, the postmortem report stated that the mark on the 20-year-old victim's neck was consistent with a hanging mark, and she "died of asphyxiation due to hanging".

According to the autopsy, there was no fracture in her neck, and no injuries or signs of violence were found on her body. 

The report also mentioned that she was not pregnant at the time of her death.

Two days ago, the Punjab government formed a six-member committee to probe the murder case. 

The committee was formed after discrepancies were found in the FIR's contents and the victim's post-mortem report.

However, the provincial ministers today confirmed that Sania was murdered by her husband and her mother-in-law.