What is the reality behind the incidents of 'suicide' of women in Chitral?

What is the reality behind the incidents of 'suicide' of women in Chitral?

Omar Daraz Nangiana and Humaira Kanwal BBC Urdu, Chitral 39 minutes ago One day Maryam Bibi (pseudonym) came back home. Then it turned out that she had disappeared. His family feared he had committed suicide by jumping into the river. She lived in Ower, an area in the Upper Chitral District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, which runs through the beautiful valleys of Chitral. There is also a glacier about six kilometers long from which the river flows near the village of Maryam Bibi. Its water is very cold and its speed is very fast. The search for his body began in the same river with the help of divers. It took two to three days. Maryam Bibi's body was recovered from the river. His condition had deteriorated due to the rapid flow of water and the impact of rocks. Police took the body into custody and sent it to a hospital for an autopsy. This is what has happened in such cases. Earlier, it was said that a woman jumped into the river to commit suicide. The body is found, the police send her for an autopsy, the doctors write that the death was due to drowning, the family members tell the police that she was suffering from a mental illness and then the body is taken to the family for burial. Is handed over. This adds another digit to the number of suicides. Dozens of such incidents have taken place in Chitral every year for the last several years. Last year, there were 21 suicides in Upper Chitral, including 15 women, but this time something different happened. At Maryam Bibi's autopsy, doctors found signs of torture on her body. The doctors wrote in their report that the marks of torture gave the impression that "they were grabbed by the hair and dragged before they died." This meant that he did not jump into the river himself. After torturing them, they were dragged and thrown into the river. Police launched an investigation from this point. Several people, including members of his family, were also arrested. Sardar Khan works with a charity in the Ower area and is a social worker. He seeks to bring to justice women who, in what he calls "suicides, have been given the color of suicide." Speaking to the BBC, he said that the police later found Maryam Bibi's hair sticking out of a tree. However, police did not find any eyewitness to the murder. Now the question was, when the family members were saying that Maryam Bibi had committed suicide, who killed her and why? After several months of investigation, the police have come to know this, but they have not found the killer yet. The case is under investigation and police are investigating, but according to Sardar Khan, "it seems that this incident has been suppressed." But why, what was it that anyone would want to suppress? According to Sardar Khan, the matter was apparently a matter of 'honor'. According to him, Maryam Bibi was killed in the name of honor. He was aware of the details of the police investigation. He explains it but before that he points to another incident. Another woman's body was found in 2020 in a village in Oviedo. The woman was married and had two young daughters. The eldest was seven years old. The woman's husband worked abroad and she lived in her home in Ower with one of her husband's nieces. This time the body was floating on the water in a natural pond near the river. This was a surprise to the locals. It was famous for this pond that if any animal fell into it, it would sink to the bottom. He never came to the surface. The woman's in-laws, her husband's two brothers and his wives, initially expressed ignorance. He himself had informed the police that the woman had been missing since last night. The impression was given that the woman had committed suicide by jumping into the pool. But his father Mahabat Khan was not ready to accept this. Mahabat Khan is unwilling to admit that his daughter had committed suicide He spoke to the BBC in Bonni, the capital of Upper Chitral. His two granddaughters were with him. He had come to the court to hear the case of his daughter's murder. "If my daughter had to commit suicide, the river would flow in front of her house, she would jump into it," he says. Why would she go to the pool? ' That's why he decided to take legal action immediately after his daughter's funeral. Her son-in-law, in his complaint, lodged a case with the police and expressed suspicion against his two brothers and sisters-in-law. Police arrested the accused and started interrogation. According to Mahabat Khan, the killer knew that everything that falls into the pond settles down, so he chose the pond to dispose of his body after the murder. However, police were looking for witnesses and evidence on the spot. Mahabat Khan soon found a witness to the occasion. Her son-in-law's niece, who lived with her daughter, first recorded her statement in a police and judicial magistrate's court. According to Mahabat Khan, the girl said that she had seen her uncles strangling and killing Mahabat Khan's daughter. They took his body out of the house at around 2 am after the murder. During the police interrogation, the accused also confessed to killing the woman. "One killed the other, then committed suicide." The bodies of a boy and a girl were recently found under a tree in the forest in Oviedo. Both were under 20 years of age and both lived in the same neighborhood in the same village. According to social worker Sardar Khan, both of them had bullets in their stomachs. He was also initially told by police that he had committed suicide. Niaz Ahmed Niazi is the president of the Bar Council in Chitral and has been working on the issue of suicides in Chitral for many years as a human rights activist. They also collect details of each such incident and provide legal assistance to affected families where needed. Speaking to the BBC, he said that many rumors were spread about the bodies of a boy and a girl found in the forest. At first it was said that the two committed suicide together and then it was heard that one of them killed himself and then killed himself. However, according to Niaz Ahmad Niazi, when they inspected the scene, the situation was very different. There was an impression that both of them had been killed and their bodies dumped there. Police did not find any weapons at the scene. However, the girl's family said in an initial statement to police that they did not suspect anyone of killing their daughter so they did not want police action. But a month after the incident, he contacted the police again and accused the boy's family of killing his daughter. Police arrested the boy's brothers and several others on his complaint and launched an investigation into the "honor killing". However, according to Sardar Khan, a social worker in Owerri, the police "started arresting so many people in this case that eventually the people of the area reacted and even protested against the police". Why was there an attempt to give the impression of suicide in every incident? All three incidents have occurred in recent years, and the common denominator between the three is that they were initially described as suicidal. However, after finding evidence, medical reports or witnesses, the police have started investigating him on suspicion of murder. In the last ten years, about 175 reported suicides were recorded in Chitral, including 106 women. In each case, they have seized it, despite obstacles we can scarcely imagine. " In most cases, no attempt was made to find out why the deceased committed suicide. According to police records, of the 21 people who committed suicide in Upper Chitral in the recently concluded year 2021, the cause was 'unknown' in ten cases. Most of them were women. The other reasons cited included mental illness, epilepsy, stubbornness not going to school, low scores on exams or domestic violence and fights. In one incident, it was even written that the dying girl committed suicide by jumping into the river under the influence of giants. This showed that the police mostly relied on the statements given by the relatives of the deceased and did not conduct a comprehensive investigation into the incident to find out the real reason. Locals often cite similar reasons for discovering. There were very few people who seemed to be asking the question, were the events that were declared suicides really suicides? Isn't it true that incidents like murder or honor killing were covered up by painting it as suicide? Was it possible that the real causes of such incidents would never come to light? The BBC has sought to find out the real reasons behind the alleged suicide incidents in Chitral, including family members of the victims, including parents and relatives of the victims, police, lawyers, doctors, welfare organizations, administration officials and the victims. Interviewed many locals. Most of them provided information on condition of anonymity. He said it was a sensitive issue and feared a backlash if his name appeared, while parents feared being "dishonored". However, according to the sketch that emerged from their conversation, the real reasons behind the suicides in Chitral were quite different from the reasons found in the police records. "More than 50% could have been killed or killed in the name of honor." Locals in Upper Chitral also suspected that Maryam Bibi was found dead in the river in Ower area, where she was allegedly killed. According to social activist Sardar Khan, the police investigation into her murder revealed that Maryam Bibi wanted to marry the man of her choice and she ran away from home and went to Chitral Town with the man. "They wanted to have a court marriage there but it is not known if there was any quarrel between them. She returned home after two or three days. Two or three days later, his body was found in the river. Police suspect he was killed in the name of honor on his return. However, investigations are still ongoing. In another incident, her husband's brothers, who confessed to killing Mahabat Khan's daughter and throwing her body in a pond, said in a statement to police that they "suspected that she was having an affair with a non-male." She would talk to someone on the phone for hours. However, police did not find any evidence during the investigation. There was no such thing in the CDR record of his phone. After nearly a year of investigation and court proceedings, the verdict in this case was near. According to Mahabat Khan, the accused later retracted their confession in court and the only witness on the spot was being pressured to change his testimony. Police were also investigating the deaths of the girl and the boy on charges of 'honor killing'. So was it possible that the rest of the so-called suicides were actually murders? Lawyer Niaz Ahmad Niazi says that according to his experience and research, more than 50 per cent of the suicides in Chitral could have been in fact murders or honor killings. They were disguised as suicides. According to him, most of the population in Chitral lives in rural areas where everyone knows each other. People are afraid of stigma because of the real motives for suicide. According to Niaz Ahmad Niazi, the police used to conduct a cursory investigation in this regard and the matter was buried, but recently the attitude of the police has changed. Coming to see Do the police make a serious effort to find out the real reasons? The BBC contacted district police officers in both the Upper and Lower Chitral districts for answers to questions about the police investigation. However, the DPO of Lower Chitral apologized for the interview. He said that for this he would have to get permission from the officers first. Meanwhile, Upper Chitral District Police Officer Zulfiqar Tanoli spoke to BBC. He has been stationed in the area for the last two years and became the first DPO of Upper Chitral after becoming a separate district. He said that the police were conducting a thorough investigation but they were facing two types of problems. "On the one hand, these family members are already deeply traumatized and we do not consider it necessary to comment on such fabrications immediately." "If we put more pressure, people will protest again." He further says that in other such cases no one comes to him with complaint and he does not get any witnesses or evidence. "If anyone says we don't take his statement, then we are guilty," he said. Is given. "If there's a witness, there's evidence." DPO Zulfiqar Tanoli admits that “many times the situation is very different from what is being told. When they are investigated, something else comes to the surface. However, he said that in order to prove this, the police need evidence or witnesses which the police do not get by chance. He says people are reluctant to talk to the police but hide the matter. Police have also left their informants in the area who bring to their notice indications that the so-called suicide incident was something else. "But we can't bring our informants forward and bring them to court. We need witnesses and evidence for this and no one comes forward. " He said that one of the reasons for this was that people did not want to acquire any kind of animosity. However, the question was why the police did not make a serious effort to gather evidence on their own after receiving such information. If someone is suspected of being killed and given the color of suicide, will the police not be able to investigate because there were no witnesses or evidence available? There were many other methods of investigation such as forensic or scientific attempts to prove a crime. "The doctor is the expert. We follow what he tells us." DPO Upper Chitral Zulfiqar Tanoli said that the evidence he received from the scene in this regard indicates that it was a case of suicide. We do not find any evidence that anyone was killed and thrown into the river. " And secondly, if the (postmortem) doctor writes to us that there are no signs of violence etc. or there is any foul play then we should also investigate it. The doctor is an expert in this matter, we are not an expert. We're going to analyze it. " This was also a key point. The final cause of death is important for the police. She could have started an investigation or helped prove her guilt. However, in most of the suicides in Chitral, bodies are found in the river. Sometimes they are found after several days. After being in the water for so long and hitting rocks, they have become so bad that it is sometimes difficult to determine the exact cause of death through a basic autopsy. Do doctors have the ability to determine the ultimate cause of death? Dr. Anisa has been working at Bonnie's Government Hospital for the past few years, during which time she has performed autopsies on those who have committed suicide. Speaking to the BBC, she said she believed there should be a full investigation into the causes of suicide, especially among women. "If a woman takes her own life, there is a reason behind it." He said most of the women's bodies brought to him for autopsy were said to be mentally ill. However, later it was found out that only a few of them had been diagnosed with depression and she was undergoing treatment for it. But Dr Anisa said she did not know the real reasons for the women's suicide. Referring to the post-mortem, he said that in most of the cases, there were no signs of torture or strangulation on the body of the deceased. So it could be said that she could have committed suicide. "If anyone suspected that he had been killed, samples would be taken from his body and sent out of Chitral for forensics," he said. Then a decision was made on his report. It should be noted that there is no forensic expert in Chitral. So in a situation where there are suspicions, could the post-mortem doctor in Chitral have been able to determine the final cause of death of the alleged suicide bomber? Dr Rehmat Aman, the district health officer for Upper Chitral, told the BBC: He said that the report of forensic laboratory was also awaited for this but he did not remember that the report of the samples he used to send had ever been returned to him. According to Dr. Rehmat Aman, even if this report came, it would reach the police because samples for forensics were also sent by the police. Could such a murder have been concealed from suicide? According to DHO Upper Chitral, Dr. Rehmat Aman, there are several motives for autopsy or postmortem, one of which is to determine the cause of death. In this regard, if there was any need, our doctors would go to the court and get their statement recorded. However, he acknowledged that if the doctor's report regarding the determination of death was not final or ambiguous, the accused could have benefited in court only on that basis. According to experts, these were apparently all the factors that could encourage the tendency to paint homicides as homicides and murders in the name of honor. That is, the killer will know that the death will not be determined and the police will have no evidence. Also read Why are women committing suicide in Chitral? Suicides or honor killings Why do suicides increase in the spring? For the first time in Chitral, women also share in forest royalties In this way, he could have survived or escaped by calling this murder or honor killing suicide.