LAHORE - A 30-year-old woman was shot and killed by her brother in a bazaar in Lower Mall police area yesterday afternoon. Another two members of her family were also wounded in the gun-attack.

Shazia reached a local court to get her statement recorded with regard to her second marriage with a man of her own choice. Her relatives also reached the court premises later. They asked the lady to sit with them at a private office for sometime so that the issue could be settled amicably.

The shooting took place at the office of UC (56) Councilor Shahzad Farooq in the Lower Mall police precincts yesterday. Shazia died on the spot while her relatives Adnan and Munawwar Bibi wounded in the gun assault. The body was moved to the morgue for autopsy and the injured were rushed to a hospital with serious bullet wounds.

The police are investigating the gun attack which took place on Ibrahim road during the rush hours. The shooter was said to be Akram, a brother of the lady.

A police officer downplayed the incident and claimed that it was not a homicide related to honour killing.

“She was a mother of three children. She was going to contract second marriage. (However), the killer happens to be a brother of the victim,” police officer Muhammad Naveed told this reporter last night.

“This is not a case of honour killing. The motive behind the shooting appears to be family dispute,” the officer claimed. “Her relatives were trying to convince the lady (inside the office) when her brother took out a gun and opened fire,” said the superintendent of city police division.

The main suspect is not arrested yet, Naveed said, adding, police are conducting raids to catch the alleged killer. A murder case (under section 302 of the PPC) was registered with Islampura police on the complaint of a relative of the deceased. 

Sources close to police investigators said the resident of Lower Mall, Shazia, had eloped with a man Hassan, who lives in Shafiqabad. The couple later contracted court marriage. Further investigation was underway.