On Monday (2nd August), the death of a 36-year-old unmarried woman from serious burns took a twist when her brother accused his stepmother and stepbrother of burning her to death while attempting to pass it off as suicide.
The Shahrah-e-Faisal Police Station said that Kanwal Javed had suffered critical burns due to which she was admitted to Dr. Ruth K. M. Pfau, Civil Hospital Karachi. Kanwal was admitted to the hospital on 31 July (Saturday) when the incident took place and passed away on Sunday (1st August). A police officer took her statement when she was admitted to the Hospital. In her statement, Kanwal said that she set herself on fire because she was tired of all the domestic abuse.
Kanwal’s brother registered an FIR on Monday (2nd August) against his Stepmother (Ms. Tanveer) and Stepbrother (Moin Javed). Kanwal’s brother (Mr. Qadir) told the police that his father, along with his stepmother and stepbrother were against the decided marriage of Kanwal. The incident took place on the day of her engagement.
Mr. Qadir who is Kanwal’s brother told the police that their mother passed away 23 years ago. Their father (Mr. Javed) remarried after the death of his first wife. The attitude of his second wife was never tolerable with any of the three siblings: Ayesha, Kanwal, and Qadir. Qadir said that his father used to always take the opinion of his stepmother, and he used to punish all the siblings at the instigation of the stepmother. Ayesha and Qadir moved out because of all the abuse, however, Kanwal stayed with her father.
The stepbrother, Moin Javed used to beat up Kanwal. Ayesha begged Kanwal to leave their father’s house but Kanwal, nevertheless, stayed. Mr. Javed told the police that Kanwal committed suicide after putting herself in Kerosene over a dispute with the family.
The FIR of this case has been registered under 982/21. The murder of Kanwal Javed has also shocked the Digital Media. People all over the internet are posting about the gruesome abuse and the hashtag #JusticeforKanwal is trending on Twitter.
