- Nazo Shinwari, her brother in hiding after parents’ murders; journalist alleges facilitation of influential accused by police, others
- Police says department will protect victims at all costs, working hard to bring culprits to justice
- Jibran Nasir calls out HR Minister Shireen Mazari among other govt members over ‘incompetence’
Challenging the system over its failure to serve justice, journalist Nazo Shinwari, whose parents were allegedly murdered by her stepbrother and uncle over a petty property dispute, has demanded that the culprits be taken to task.
As per the details of the case, Nazo’s father Mobin Shinwari was shot dead outside his residence in Rawalpindi for legitimately transferring his property — that didn’t concern his stepson or brother’s family — to his second wife and Nazo’s mother, Sumera Safdar, at the time of their nikah over thirty years ago.
“After approaching a court against the transfer and continuing to threaten my family over the years, on March 28, 2019, they killed my father so that they could force us into surrendering the property,” Nazo said while speaking to The Current.
“But my courageous mother stood up against them. She started pursuing both the property and my father’s murder cases,” she added and alleged that it wasn’t later when the accused got her mother killed too.
Sharing the details of the second murder, Nazo said that Sumera was forced to leave Rawalpindi and reach “their turf” — Peshawar — for the hearing of a bogus case registered against her, her son and brothers.
“She was murdered on her way back from KP [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa] on August 17 in a drive-by shooting that also claimed her driver’s life,” she said, adding that her mother had written to the chief justice, prime minister, Punjab and KP chief ministers as well as top cops among other police officials concerned, but to no avail.
“She demanded protection time and again, but no one batted an eye. Had they addressed her complaints and taken action, my mother would’ve been with us today,” Nazo said.
“My brother, Shershah, and I are now in hiding because our lives are in danger. They also tried to poison my brother at a police station. They have sought pre-arrest bails and authorities are reluctant to act because the culprits are influential.”
She also called out the police for its “reluctance to properly pursue the case in court on the pretext of a pending investigation” and Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital of “deliberately delaying” the issuance of her mother’s death certificate.
‘POLICE IN ACTION’:
Meanwhile, Peshawar Operations Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Zahoor Babar Afridi has said that the police are working hard and the culprits will soon be brought to justice.
“The Peshawar police are investigating the matter and the accused will be arrested at the earliest,” he said while speaking to a private media outlet and added that the vehicle used in Sumera’s killing had also been traced back to the nominated accused.
Rawalpindi’s Potohar Division SP Syed Ali, on the other hand, said that justice will be served at all costs. “Nazo has become the plaintiff in her parents’ murder cases and they are being pursued by the police. We are trying our best to arrest the killers.”
Speaking to The Current, rights activist and lawyer Jibran Nasir said that it is the state’s responsibility to provide security to its citizens. “However, in this case, the family was not provided any, despite repeated requests.”
“They have even approached [Federal Minister for Human Rights] Dr Shireen Mazari, but no action has been taken by anyone, which speaks volumes of the authorities’ incompetence,” he said.
Jibran also questioned the role played by the criminal justice system in Sumera’s killing.
Repeated attempts were made to contact Dr Mazari and the police officials concerned, but they were unavailable.
