KARACHI/SUKKUR: A man was arrested for allegedly murdering a young Hindu woman after she reportedly put up resistance during an abduction bid in Rohri, Sukkur.
Sukkur police registered an FIR against the suspect, Wahid Bakhash Lashari. He, along with his two accomplices, reportedly broke into the house of Sahib Oad with a gun on the day of the murder. Lashari allegedly shot Oad’s 18-year-old daughter, Pooja Kumari, dead when the family resisted as he tried to abduct her.
The alleged murderers escaped after the killing.
However, soon after SSP Sukkur Sanghaar Malik ordered the arrest of the suspected killer and his aides, Lashari was arrested from the limits of Rohri, with what is suspected to be the murder weapon.
The incident sparked an uproar on social media with activists strongly condemning the brutal homicide and demanding protection of religious minorities, mainly Hindus and Christians.
Teenage girl Pooja Kumari has been brutally murdered today as she resisted an abduction and forced conversion attempt in Rohri, Sindh. Puja, hats off to your courage & strength.
— Ayaz Latif Palijo (@AyazLatifPalijo) March 21, 2022
Where are the provincial & federal govts?Police? Parliament?Courts? This can't be allowed to continue. pic.twitter.com/aakoKPpaZ2
PPP Senator Krishna Kumari on Tuesday demanded capital punishment for the murderer of Kumari as the uproar in the province over the killing grew.
Kumari said the minorities demand capital punishment for the killer, saying that the authorities should take notice of the situation as girls of minorities were not safe in their homes. She demanded security and protection for minorities living in Sindh. Meanwhile, the police on Tuesday brought the accused Wahid Bakhsh Lashari to a Sukkur court, where the police got 10-day physical remand of the alleged murderer.
Earlier, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari issued a condemnation and said Sindh police had arrested all suspects in the case. He also lauded Sindh Police for the “expeditious arrests”. Bilawal said the relevant authorities should make sure that the culprits were meted out stringent punishments. Bilawal expressed solidarity with Kumari’s family and said anyone intending to harm the oppressed would have to face the PPP first.
On the other hand, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif called the murder “heinous and condemnable” and said that such incidents represent our collective failure and put our whole society to shame. “No girl deserves to go through this. High time we thought why we continue to hit lows one after the other,” the leader of the opposition tweeted.
The brutal murder of Hindu girl, Pooja Kumari, is most heinous & condemnable. Such heart-rending incidents represent our collective failure & put our whole society to shame. No girl deserves to go through this. High time we thought why we continue to hit lows one after the other.
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) March 22, 2022
Aurat March organisers said in a tweet: “We strongly condemn the horrifying murder of Pooja Kumari in Rohri, Sukkur. 18-year-old Pooja lost her life while resisting her kidnapping by men of influential Lashari clan.”
Malala Yousafzai’s father Ziauddin called the murder “disgusting” and a “heinous crime”, adding that “we all must speak up to demand justice for the bravest Pooja Kumari.”
