The death of a 22-year-old student in Chitral is being investigated after her family claimed she was kidnapped and murdered, disputing reports that indicated she committed suicide. 

 

 

The student, Shehla from Nishku, Morkho in Upper Chitral, was pursuing a BS in English at Government College Upper Chitral. She went missing on August 14, and her body was discovered a week later in a stream in the Bumburet locality of Lower Chitral.

 

 

Initially, law enforcement suggested the incident might be a suicide, but her father, Muhammad Yaqoob, filed a complaint insisting she had been killed by a local individual. An FIR was submitted at the Morkho police station on August 21, first under abduction and later amended to include murder charges under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

 

 

Upper Chitral DPO Hameedullah Khan verified that mobile phone records indicated Shehla had been in contact with a young man. Police sources mentioned that she had recently become engaged to another person, which reportedly upset the young man. The DPO noted that Shehla had been experiencing harassment through phone calls and appeared distressed in the days preceding her disappearance.

 

 

Locals asserted that she had jumped into a canal on August 14, the day she went missing. Her family reported her missing and filed an abduction case a week later. On August 22, police found her body and classified the incident as murder.

 

 

An initial post-mortem suggested drowning as the cause of death, although forensic samples have been sent to Khyber Medical College and the Punjab Forensic Science Agency to establish whether there were signs of violence. Authorities also confirmed that mobile data had been retrieved and was under investigation.

 

 

Her father stated that the family would refuse to accept the suicide narrative. Speaking to journalists, he mentioned his daughter had dreams for her future and demanded accountability for what he characterised as cruelty against her.

 

 

The case only gained public attention after it circulated on social media, leading to a broader public response and urging local officials to conduct an investigation.