BAHAWALPUR: Mailsi Saddar police in Vehari district claimed on Saturday to have arrested a six-month pregnant woman for the brutal murder of her infant nephew in Sorosani locality.

Reports said Najma suspected that the mother of her two-and-a-half-year-old nephew Hadi was jealous of her pregnancy and would use ‘spiritual means’ to cause her unborn baby to die, as her previous two children had not survived. Fearing her third child might also not live, Najma decided to take revenge.

Police said Najma took the child to nearby fields, where she allegedly administered acid to him, strangled him, and even made blade cuts on his body to ensure he was dead before dumping the body.

Hadi’s father Imran had registered a missing person report a day earlier. After the child’s body was found, police registered a murder case. During interrogation, Najma confessed to the crime, admitting she acted out of revenge, fearing Hadi’s mother would use ‘spiritual help’ to kill her unborn child.

MAN KILLS WIFE: A man allegedly strangled his estranged wife, a mother of four, in a maize field near Mauza Sharf in Vehari after she refused to reconcile and return home.

The incident occurred on Friday night within the limits of Luddan police station.

Reports said Shazia Bibi had been living with her parents for the past two years due to strained relations with her husband Amir. The suspect came to her parents’ house to attempt a compromise and convince her to return to their children.

When she refused, Aamir allegedly led her to nearby maize fields on the pretext of collecting fodder for her parents’ animals. There, he reportedly strangled her with a cloth before fleeing the scene.

Luddan police, including DSP Rizwan Khan and Station House Officer Shamoon Joyia, reached the spot, shifted the body to Mailsi THQ hospital and registered a murder case under section 302 of PPC against Aamir.

Police are conducting raids for the arrest.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2025