The Express Tribune

A woman held for attempting to kill her husband, a prayer leader at a Jamia Masjid, has been released from custody after her husband pardoned her during a court hearing.The FIR registered in the matter stated that 32-year-old Muawia Ashiq, prayer leader at Jamia Masjid on Akbar Road, was asleep when his wife, Umme Habiba, attacked him, maiming his genitalia.During interrogation, the suspect said that she had done so to punish him for ignoring her rights as a wife. She said her husband had been spending most of his time at the mosque. The woman had pretended to be asleep when her husband had returned home and when he fell asleep she had attacked him.Last month, a man had murdered his wife in Chuhng and had then thrown a snake on the bed to confuse the police.Police said Noreen, 25, a resident of Shahdara, was married to Abid, a resident of Dena Nath village. It was Abid’s second marriage. On Wednesday, the suspect informed police that his wife has been bitten by a snake and had died.Police took the body to hospital for postmortem examination. Police said that Abid had told them that Noreen was asleep when the snake had bitten her.“He told us that he had killed the snake with a stick. His statement appeared to be contradictory so we took him into custody. Wequestioned him further and he confessed to the murder,” a police official said.“He said that he had first drugged his wife and then strangled her with a rope. He also told us that he had purchased a snake three days ago and left it on Noreen’s bed. It had bitten her on the arm.”Police said the autopsy report had confirmed that the victim had died from suffocation.Published in, July 20, 2016.