MUZAFFARABAD: A 21-year-old married woman was found hanging from a rope in her impoverished home in Jhelum valley district on Sunday. Police said they were investigating if it was suicide or homicide.

Jhelum valley’s Superintendent of Police (SP) Sultan Awan told Dawn that the incident had occurred in Bandi Bakalan village located along the road leading to the famous hilly town of Chikar and beyond.

Mr Sultan said the deceased Laiba was wedded to her paternal cousin Yasir about a year ago, but their marital life was hit by disputes over jewellery and dower due to which she would often move to the nearby residence of her parents.

Two days ago, she again went to her parents’ place allegedly over the same issue following which a meeting (jirga) of the community was held to settle the matter which decided to hand over the jewellery to her, the SP said.

After the reconciliation, she returned to her husband’s home where they were reported to have slept in the same room overnight, he added.

He said as per initial reports, as the woman did not come out of her room after a considerable time after her husband had left for his work as a baker in Chikar, her husband’s mother and sister came from their adjacent home to inquire about her.

They knocked the door and called her to come out but in vain, following which they alerted other neighbours who broke the door open only to see her body hanging from a rope. The body was removed by police and its postmortem examination was held in the afternoon, the SP said. The postmortem report would help police arrive at a conclusion regarding the death.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2024