The authorities of Rawalpindi exhausted the body of 17-year-old Sidra Arab on Monday as part of a continuous investigation of her killing apparently over honor.
Police said Sidra’s Post-Mortem was performed at Pirwadhai Graveyard by a team from Holy Family Hospital, led by senior medical officer Dr. Misbahur Rehman. Medical Board also included Dr. Arif Saleem, Mortuary Supervisor Muhammad Saeed and a hospital dispenser.
Samples collected from the body will be sent to Punjab Forensic Science Agency in Lahore. The results are expected to help determine the cause of death.
Preliminary finds indicate signs of torture. Police sources said Sidra’s body was raised due to water exposure, her tongue stood out and her neck was broken. The burial site had allegedly been manipulated to erase evidence despite heavy rain on the day of funeral.
Read: Man kills wife for ‘honor’
Police believe Sidra may have been strangled in a suspected honor killing. The hospital’s officials said the Medical Board will submit a sealed report to the court when the forensic tests are completed.
Eight suspects, including former Union Council Vice -President Ismatullah Khan, have been arrested. Police say the suspects expelled “extreme brutality” and are now presented to the court under special certainty. Investigators seek extended physically in custody for further interrogation.
Sidra’s second man, Usman, and his father Muhammad Ilyas were brought to the cemetery for formal identification of the body. The exhibition and the autopsy were implemented during court decisions.
Sidra had married her second husband, Usman, in Muzaffarabad on July 12. According to court documents, she had appeared for a judicial magistrate days later, confirming that marriage was consensus and said she feared for her life. She also requested legal protection.
Usman surrendered to police shortly after her death and handed over the marriage certificate and supportive documents. His father Ilyas released a video statement that Sidra had been taken from their homes by armed members of a local Jirga who promised a respectful goodbye but instead killed her.
Police say Sidra’s funeral was organized to hide the crime. CCTV recordings from the cemetery, burial tools and the Rickshaw loader used to transport her body were regained. Officials also found that the relevant burial receipt had been removed from cemetery registers.
Jirga was allegedly led by Ismatullah Khan, a former Union Council Vice-President and local traders associated with PML-N. The party’s officials have since publicly distanced themselves from him.
Investigators say that section 311 of the Pakistan Penal Code is invoked, which ensures that the case cannot be settled privately and will continue under the state attorney.
