A man gunned down his wife during the hearing of a dissolution of marriage (khula) case filed by the woman, on the premises of Karachi’s City Courts.
The incident took place inside the chamber of the judicial magistrate XII (central).
During the hearing of the khula case, suspect Sikander Sahto shot at his wife Saima, 24, and also hit his father-in-law, who is also his maternal uncle, with the butt of his pistol.
According to the police, the suspect is a lawyer and managed to bring a pistol inside court by concealing it in his files.
The 24-year-old woman was taken to the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi, where she died during treatment.
The wife had filed for khula and the couple had a dispute over the custody of their three children.
Both families also had a property dispute in their native Khairpur town, Dawn reported.
The suspect is currently in police custody.
Pakistan is often ranked among the worst countries for women’s security.
According to the global gender gap index 2022, out of 146 countries, Pakistan ranked 145th, with a growth of only 0.008 since 2021, and due to the lack of a support system, financial dependency, and victim blaming, one out of two Pakistani women do not report violence committed against them.