Rawalpindi: The Pirwadhai Police have arrested a fugitive brother of a girl murdered in July last year, marking a key development in the investigation.
According to a Rawalpindi police spokesman on Wednesday, the accused had been absconding since the killing of his sister. Investigators said he was involved not only in the murder but also took part in the jirga proceedings and the burial of the victim.
The spokesman said the police had already arrested 16 suspects, including the victim’s father, uncle and five brothers, the jirga head and his brother, the cemetery body secretary, the gravedigger, the victim’s former husband, rickshaw and car drivers, a neighbour and a tenant.
Superintendent of Police Rawal Saad Arshad said the suspects would be challaned with solid evidence after further interrogation. All legal requirements were being fulfilled to ensure exemplary punishment for those involved in the heinous crime. ‘Every possible legal step is being taken to bring the accused to justice,’ he said.
The 19-year-old girl was strangled to death on July 17 last year for marrying a man of her choice on the orders of a jirga in Fauji Colony.