RAWALPINDI: Zeeshan Arshad’s father says police tortured his son into confessing and are framing him as the main suspect in the Hina Javed murder case in Punjab.
He maintained that Zeeshan, a domestic worker accused of involvement in the killing, was innocent. However, he claimed Hina’s husband, Faisal Asghar, forced his son at gunpoint to intervene during the couple’s dispute.
“Whatever he did was under coercion,” the father said.
His account challenges the findings of a fresh police investigation. Additional Inspector General Sohail Zafar Chattha, director general of Punjab’s Crime Control Department, told Arab News on Friday that forensic evidence implicated Zeeshan.
Chattha maintained that investigators found no incriminating evidence against Faisal. He cited mobile phone analysis and findings that Faisal was absent from the apartment when the killing occurred.
Meanwhile, Zeeshan’s father alleged that police assaulted his son during remand and pressured him to admit responsibility. He accused investigators of shifting all blame to the domestic worker.
According to the father, Zeeshan had worked at Hina’s home for seven months. His son told him he awoke on the night of August 20 after hearing a commotion during an argument between the couple.
In that account, Faisal was chasing Hina and ordered Zeeshan to catch her. When the worker refused to become involved, Faisal allegedly beat him and threatened him with a gun.
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The father further accused Faisal of killing Hina and subsequently hanging her in the bathroom. He also disputed police claims about Zeeshan’s background, maintaining that his son had no previous criminal cases.
Hina, 45, was found dead in the bathroom of her Lal Kurti residence in August. Civil Lines police registered the murder case on her brother’s complaint.
Her post-mortem examination documented a fractured neck bone, injuries to her ribs and hip, and blood around the heart.
Police arrested Faisal and Zeeshan during the investigation. Earlier police accounts accused Faisal of offering the worker money to assist in the killing.
Separately, Hina’s family rejected the reinvestigation’s conclusions and on Saturday demanded a judicial commission. Her brother questioned the findings concerning Faisal and sought access to complete forensic records.
(With input from Geo News)
