Zulfiqar Wassan, a close r
elative of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Manzoor Wassan and primary suspect in the murder of teenage girl Ramsha Wassan was arrested on Wednesday, a private TV channel reported.
According t
o police, Zulfiqar was wanted in a number of cases, including kidnapping for ransom, theft and the murder of Ramsha.
SSP Khairpur Umer Tufail confirmed the news about
the arrest of Zulfiqar stating
the accused is involved in 20 more cases. “We have arrested him and starred and inquiry into Ramsha’s murder,” he added.
The police, in its press release, stated that the victim was killed in
the name of ‘honour’ and the main accused had previously committed three ‘honour’ killings but was never arrested and ‘was a symbol of terror in
the area’. “The FIR was registered on behalf of the state in order to avert pressure and threats to the victim’s family for withdrawing the case later on, and to prevent compound ability,” added the statement.
On February 1, Ramsha, a seventh-grade student, was killed in
the name of Karo Kari (honour killing) in Khairpur’s Kunb area. Ramsha’s mother said that the teenager was killed in
the name of honour by Manzoor Wassan’s close r
elative as she wanted to marry a boy of her own will. The r
elatives of the teenager had named four suspects in the FIR of which three have been arrested so far.
A day earlier, police arrested PPP leader Nawab Wassan’s cook, Imtiaz Wassan, in connection with the case. An accomplice of the primary suspect identified as Ghafar Wassan was also arrested two days ago.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had taken notice of the incident and issued special directions to SSP Khairpur regarding
the arrest of
the accused.
The hashtag #JusticeForRamsha has also gone viral on social media with several demanding that justice be served. Protests were also staged in various cities, including Karachi, Islamabad, Hyderabad and Khairpur, demanding action and criticizing the PPP government.
Meanwhile, PPP leader Manzoor Wassan while speaking to a private TV channel rejected the reports that he had been pressuring police and intervening in the matter. “Ramsha’s r
elatives registered a case against Zulfiqar Wassan and others. Arrests have been made and we have neither intervened nor exerted an
y pressure. The entire Wassan clan is the same for us,” he said. “Many people do not know the background of the case. The same person did not kidnap and kill Ramsha,” he added.
Published in Daily Times, February 7th 2019.
