Two suspects have admitted their involvement in the murder of a newly-married couple residing in Karachi allegedly on the orders of a jirga.
The accused, Ziaul Haq and Ghulam Rasool, stated to a judicial magistrate that a jirga had ordered the torture and murder of Abdul Hadi and Hussaini Bibi for contracting a free-will marriage.
Haq and Rasool told the court that their orders were to hide the victims' bodies in the Qaimkhani graveyard after they were killed by the head of the jirga, Miskeen, and his sons on the night of November 22.
They admitted that, acting on the orders, they had dug holes to hide the bodies while they waited for co-accused Abdur Rashid, Mirza and Azam to bring them the remains of the victims. The bodies were recovered after they led the police to the graves, the suspects stated.
After recording their statement, the court sent the two to jail.
Abdul Hadi and Hussaini Bibi, who hailed from Kohistan, had married without permission from their family elders a few months earlier, Mominabad police had previously.
They had rented a house within the jurisdiction of the Mominabad Police Station in November while they hid from their families.
On November 24, residents of the area had spotted blood around the house and reported it to the police.
As police began investigating the case, the victims' bodies were discovered in the Qaimkhani graveyard in Ittehad Town.
The remains were sent to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for a post-mortem examination.
