Rawalpindi court orders exhumation of 'honour killing' victim's body

A Rawalpindi court on Saturday allowed a request by police for the exhumation of the body of a teenage girl allegedly killed in the name of so-called honour and secretly buried in a local graveyard.

The investigating officer (IO) moved an application before Judicial Magistrate Qamar Abbas Tarar seeking exhumation of the victim's body for a post-mortem examination, which was allowed.

The magistrate granted three-day police remand of two suspects arrested in connection with the case.

The suspects have been arrested by Rawalpindi police for allegedly facilitating the murder.

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According to the police, a 19-year-old married girl was killed on the orders of a jirga and then secretly buried in a local graveyard.

They said that she had allegedly left her home on July 11 with gold jewellery, Rs150,000 in cash, and her belongings. She is believed to have been murdered on July 16 and buried the next day.

After reports of her suspicious burial, the police launched a probe and taken into custody a number of suspects, including her family members, a gravedigger, and the graveyard committee secretary.

Reports said that the woman was killed in the courtyard of a house in the presence of the community leaders.