Court rejects bail request of suspect in Pakistani-belgian woman’s murder

A district and sessions court in Lahore on Monday dismissed the bail request of the prime suspect in the murder case of a Pakistani-belgian woman. Mayra Zulfiqar, 24, was found dead on May 3 after four attackers reportedly barged into a bedroom in the home of her friend where she was staying the night. Zahir Jadoon and Saad Ameer Butt were two of the four accused of being behind the murder in the first information report filed by Mohammad Nazeer, a relative of Mayra. The court dismissed the application filed by Jadoon as withdrawn. A counsel for the suspect said Jadoon has been arrested by the police, due to which the application for interim bail became infructuous. He requested the court to allow him to withdraw the application. Jadoon, in a statement given to the police, confessed to his involvement in the killing. Nazeer said that Mayra had told him she had become embroiled in a dispute with two male friends after she had refused their marriage proposals, and that they had threatened her with “dire consequences”. The case was registered under sections 302 and 34 — premeditated murder and common intention, respectively — of the Pakistan Penal Code. Last week, Mayra’s father said that he was dissatisfied with the police probe into the murder, but investigators said they were on the right track. Muhammad Zulfiqar appealed for help to Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. He asked Yousafazai, to advocate for justice on behalf of his daughter. “My dear daughter Malala, I appeal to you for God’s sake please raise your voice for my daughter. She was like your sister,” he told The Associated Press, sobbing. “Your voice is heard. The only difference is that you have gone abroad after studying here and my daughter came to Pakistan to serve humanity.” In the interview, he also asked for help from Prime Minister Imran Khan. Mohammad Amin, who is investigating the case, said Friday that police were questioning two key suspects. “It is a complicated case, but we are on the right track and, God willing, those who are involved in this crime will not go unpunished,” Amin told the AP, reporting “significant progress” in the investigation.