Murder in Srinagar: Greedy stepbrother kills sister on wedding day

Srinagar: Greed for land and jewelry drove a stepbrother to kill his sister in cold blood on the day of her wedding at Saida Kadal in Srinagar last month.

Chilling details have emerged after police solved the murder of Shahnaza in a record one month. Three people including her stepbrother, cousin sister, and cousin brother were arrested for murdering the bride on the day she was to get married.

On November 13, Nigeen police station received directions from CJM Srinagar for filing a report in the light of petition filed by complainant Nasir Hussain Kawa of Kawpora alleging that he was engaged to Shahnaza and his marriage was fixed on November 4 and 5 2020.

He told the court that on November 4, he was informed that his bride died due to a heart attack. The complainant stated that he had apprehensions about his bride being murdered. Accordingly, proceedings under section 174 CRPC were initiated.

Investigating officers learnt from the medical reports that the lady was actually murdered. The proceedings were converted into a formal criminal Case FIR No. 182/20 U/S 302 IPC in Nigeen police station.

A special investigating team led by SHO Nigeen under the supervision of SDPO Zakoora immediately swung into action and started rounding up suspects in the instant case.

After hectic efforts, the Special Team got the clues indicating the involvement of the family of the deceased. Wajid Gulzar Sultan, nephew of the victim was put to sustained questioning and he confessed to the crime.

“He revealed that he along with his uncle Mohammad Shafi Sultan and sister Nighat Gulzar hatched a conspiracy to eliminate Shahnaza as she has been their eyesore. Wajid and Nighat were related as nephew and niece to the deceased, while Shafi was stepbrother. Shafi is the main conspirator who motivated Wajid and Nighat to execute the crime,” said a police spokesman.

 Police said on November 3, the trio hatched a conspiracy to eliminate Shahnaza. “The victim used to wake up for fajr prayers. On the wee hours of November 4 when she was busy in prayers, Shafi along with Nighat and Wajid attacked the victim and smothered her till death. Then they again strangulated her with a golden colored cloth in order to ensure her death. Later, they tied the cloth with a ceiling fan to camouflage it as suicide,” said the spokesman.

Police said the motive of the murder was that Shafi being the stepbrother was not in a good relationship with the victim and used to harass her on one or the other pretext. “On various occasions, he used to torture her. Since their expired father had left a piece of land for the victim, Shafi was eying that property. The jewelry, which was brought by the family for the victim, was also on Shafi’s mind,” said the spokesman.

 Police said since the victim was not happy with the articles especially jewelry, she had verbal dual with the family especially with Shafi a day before her murder. 

“Shafi was fed up with the behavior of the victim. He also wanted to grab the piece of land and jewelry. For that purpose, he persuaded Wajid and Nighat to help him in killing her. He promised both of them of equal share out of it,” said the spokesman.

 Police said Shafi’s conduct was always questionable as he used to return home drunk which was always objected to by the victim. “All the accused were arrested. The article of offence was identified by the accused and recovered from their house. Further investigation into the case is in progress,’ said the spokesman.