Newly married 17-year-old girl found dead on apartment roof in Karachi

KARACHI: A newly married 17-year-old girl was found dead with a dupatta tied around her neck on the roof of a building in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA), police said on Tuesday.

The body was shifted to a hospital for medico-legal formalities, where the deceased was identified as Zainab, who had been married only a month earlier.

She belonged to Sialkot and had recently arrived in Karachi to stay at her husband’s relatives’ apartment located on the fourth floor of the building in DHA Phase 5.

According to police, her husband was not present at the apartment at the time of the incident. The flat on the fourth floor belongs to her husband’s aunt (Khala), where Zainab had been staying for the past few days.

The statements of the husband’s aunt and cousin, who were present in the apartment, have been recorded.

Following the postmortem, Police Surgeon Dr. Summaiya Syed confirmed that Zainab died due to strangulation, adding that samples had been collected for chemical and DNA analysis to assist further investigation.

Police said the circumstances appeared suspicious, and all residents of the building have been questioned as part of the inquiry.

A murder case has been registered at Darakhshan Police Station on the complaint of the victim’s father, Abdul Jabbar. In the FIR, he stated that his daughter was temporarily staying with her husband’s relatives.

According to the relatives, Zainab had gone to the roof the previous evening and did not return for a long time. She was later found unconscious on the roof with signs of strangulation.

The complainant alleged that an unidentified person had strangled his daughter.

Police have detained a suspect for questioning, SSP Mahzor Ali confirmed, adding that further investigation is underway.