In a startling revelation, the head of a jirga, which had sanctioned the killing of a married woman in Rawalpindi’s Pirwadhai area, has confessed to committing the murder himself. Police have confirmed that the jirga leader, Ismatullah, admitted to the crime during his interrogation.
The newly registered FIR indicates that Ismatullah, who also revealed that the victim, Sidra, was his cousin, entered her husband’s house armed with a weapon. He forcibly took Sidra from Muzaffarabad to Rawalpindi, where the jirga’s decision to kill her was carried out.
Sidra Arab, the victim of this horrific honour killing, was killed by Ismatullah, who later buried her body in a graveyard in Rawalpindi. The confession also named Saleh Muhammad, Amani Gul, and others as accomplices in the murder.
As part of his confession, Ismatullah led the police to the murder weapon, a Kalashnikov. However, he failed to produce a license for the firearm, leading to the registration of an additional case against him for illegal possession of the weapon.
The tragic incident took place between the night of July 16 and 17, when Sidra was murdered and buried in the Pirwadhai graveyard.