Hina Javed murder case: Domestic worker’s father claims son is innocent, alleges police pressure

The father of Zeeshan Arshad, a domestic worker accused of assisting in the murder of Hina Javed, has claimed that his son is innocent

RAWALPINDI:  The father of Zeeshan Arshad, a domestic worker accused of assisting in the murder of Hina Javed, has claimed that his son is innocent and is being wrongfully portrayed as a key suspect in the case.

Muhammad Arshad said his son had been working at the victim’s residence for around seven months before the incident. He alleged that investigators were shifting the responsibility for the murder onto Zeeshan despite his claims that the young man had been forced into the situation.

“My son is innocent,” Arshad said, maintaining that Zeeshan had no role in planning or carrying out the killing.

Zeeshan has been accused of assisting Faisal Asghar, Hina’s husband, in the murder. Police previously alleged that Faisal had offered money to the domestic worker to help him commit the crime. However, Zeeshan’s father has disputed this account and presented a different version of the events leading to Hina’s death.

Hina, 45, was found dead in the bathroom of her home in Rawalpindi’s Lal Kurti area on August 21. A murder case was registered at Civil Lines police station following a complaint by her brother, who alleged that she had suffered violence before her death.

According to the post-mortem report, the victim sustained a fracture in her neck bone, injuries to her ribs and hip, and bleeding around the heart.

Police subsequently arrested Faisal and Zeeshan in connection with the case, while Hina’s father-in-law was also named during the investigation.

Father alleges son was forced to become involved

Recounting what his son allegedly told him, Arshad said Zeeshan woke up on the night of August 20 after hearing a commotion during an argument between Hina and her husband.

According to the father, Faisal was chasing Hina when he encountered Zeeshan and instructed him to catch her. Arshad claimed that his son refused to become involved in the dispute between the couple.

He alleged that Faisal subsequently beat Zeeshan and threatened him at gunpoint, ordering him to catch Hina.

“Whatever he did was under coercion,” Arshad claimed, arguing that his son had acted under pressure rather than willingly participating in the alleged crime.

The father further alleged that Faisal killed Hina and subsequently hanged her in the bathroom. This account represents Arshad’s allegation and has not been independently established in the information provided.

Claims of police torture and pressure

Arshad also accused the police of subjecting his son to torture during remand and pressuring him to confess to the murder. He alleged that investigators had focused disproportionately on Zeeshan while failing to consider his account of the incident.

The father said Zeeshan was approximately 18 or 19 years old and had no previous criminal cases against him. He also disputed what he described as the police’s portrayal of his son’s background.

Arshad maintained that his son was being made the central accused in the case despite his claims of coercion and innocence.

The allegations made by Zeeshan’s father have not been independently verified. The case remains a matter for investigators and the courts, where the evidence and competing accounts will need to be examined to establish responsibility for Hina Javed’s death.