An 18-year-old girl from the Hindu community was gunned down on Monday near the Chhuahra Mandi area of Sukkur, the police said.
According to Sukkur Station House Officer (SHO) Bashir Jagirani, the assailant — identified as Wahid Bux Lashari — and two of his accomplices broke into Pooja Kumari’s house and opened fire on her. Officials said Lashari wanted to marry the teenager but she refused.
The victim’s father, Sahib Oad, lodged a first information report (FIR) against the suspects under Section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), Section 302 (punishment for murder), and 337H(ii) (punishment for hurt by rash or negligent act) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The police arrested Lashari today and presented him before a local court, which subsequently remanded him into police custody for 10 days.
Kumari’s murder drew condemnation on social media, with #JusticeforPooja trending on Twitter.
Former MQM leader Raza Haroon was among those who demanded justice for the slain girl. He urged Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to take action, calling it the “worst form of human rights violation and persecution of religious minorities in Sindh”.
Activist and lawyer Jibran Nasir criticised the provincial authorities, saying: “Under the PPP government, child marriage laws aren’t worth more than the paper they’re printed on.
“Doors to forced conversion of minor girls are open because child marriages are facilitated by corrupt and ignorant [officials],” he added.
Nobel Prize laureate 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.”
