Two women, two stories

The first story is about Wajiha Swati, a Pakistani-American citizen who owned a valuable property in Pakistan. The said woman arrived in Pakistan along with her young nephew on October 16, 2021 to look after the affairs of her property. On the same day, her ex-husband Rizwan Habib along with her father and an employee forcibly kidnapped her from Islamabad and brutally killed her and buried her body in a house in a remote area.

After the disappearance of the woman, her nephew and son filed a report in the concerned police station, but the result was zero. What would be the trace of the missing person, even the FIR was not cut. Later, the victim’s family approached the High Court and on the order of the honorable court, an FIR was registered against Rizwan Habib, but he was declared innocent and acquitted in the initial investigation by the police. It got to the point that the American Embassy and the FBI not only raised this issue at the diplomatic level but also provided full assistance in the investigation.

The matter was then discussed in the Senate Standing Committee on Home Affairs, in which the victim’s lawyer informed the committee about the difficulties encountered in the registration of the FIR and the investigation. After that, the chairman of the committee took personal interest and issued a stern warning to the concerned institutions and ordered a re-investigation. As a result, the investigating officers were changed, the case was reopened and after a few days the accused confessed to the crime and got the body recovered. After all this, the case had to go on the fast track and yesterday a local court in Rawalpindi in the presence of the American Embassy and FBI officials pronounced the verdict of the case in which the main accused Rizwan Habib was sentenced to death and others. The co-accused were given prison terms.

The second story is that of Nabila, a mother of three living in Lahore, who received some land and a share of around two million five lakhs in Turke from her father. At first, Nabila’s husband kept asking for this money for business purposes, but her constant refusal provoked him. Three years ago today, one morning while the children were at school, the husband violently assaulted his wife in such a way that she lost her life. The husband and father-in-law were arrested after due process, but the pace and direction of the case remained the same as before the intervention of the US Embassy and the FBI in the Vijaya Swati case. A botched investigation, court costs, daily appearances and some social pressure, Nabila’s father’s courage finally paid off and he passed away a few months ago. Now the widowed mother and teenage brother are unable to follow the case. It has been heard that a few influential people have also put peace on the minds of the accused, who are insisting that Nabila’s family should forgive the killer. In one way, this demand is not so illegitimate. The only way left for people who are disappointed with the justice system is to forgive the killer and put a lock of consolation on their chest.

There is no doubt that Wajiha Swati was wronged and it is satisfactory that the justice system of the state has moved with full force to bring justice to her family, the family influence of the accused and Influence, wealth and power also failed to save him from the clutches of the law. But the question is why this state and its law and institutions are so helpless in the case of Nabila?

These are not just two stories of two oppressed women, but a lament echoing in the space between earth and heaven, which no embassy, ​​FBI, or Senate Standing Committee, no police station, courtroom, or court can hear.

As I said earlier, what should be concluded from these two stories? I leave this to the discretion of my readers.

Note: Opinions expressed in any DW Urdu blog, comment or column are the personal opinions of the author, with which DW does not necessarily agree.