ISLAMABAD, Feb 22: A brother shot dead his sister in Islamabad on Monday after their marriages of exchange–watta satta–ended in divorces a week ago, police said.

Initially the family tried to hide the murder by claiming that Hasina Bibi, 22, has committed suicide.

Mother Zarqa Bibi brought Hasina Bibi and her brother Sher Ali to their grandparents’ home in Bilal Town in Khana Dak three days ago apparently to overcome the family’s grief over the collapse of their marriages. In the early hours of Monday, Sher Ali opened fire at Hasina when she was sleeping with Zarqa Bibi.

The other members of the family rushed to the room after hearing the gunshots and the mother’s screams. Ali escaped leaving the murder weapon behind. Hasina’s body was shifted to the hospital.

Police officials said they did not believe the family’s initial claim that it was suicide mainly because of the bullet wounds on the body. Soon afterwards, the mother told the police that the brother had killed his sister.

Zarqa Bibi told police that two years back Hasina was married to the brother of Ali’s wife. She said it was the condition of Ali’s in-laws for his marriage. However, the marriage of Hasina did not work as she had constant quarrels with her husband. Whenever she brought the matter of unhappy marriage to the family’s notice, she was told to compromise for the sake of her brother’s marriage.

Police said a jirga in Peshawar decided to end the marriage of Hasina with a divorce. This led to Ali’s in-laws approaching the jirga and demanding their ‘daughterÂ’ back. Police said Ali did not want to divorce his wife, but he had to under the orders of jirga. But police said he became distressed after the divorce and started blaming his sister for it.
Source: Dawn
Date:2/23/2011