In an incident unprecedented in the 98-year history of Kinnaird College for Women (KCW), Lahore, a disheartened lover shot one of the college’s intermediate second year student dead, immediately killing himself afterwards and injuring a passer-by on Monday afternoon.
Shams-ul-Alam, 23, and Samar Wasti, a 17-year-old ICS student at KCW were classmates in Cathedral School and allegedly, Alam had been in love with Samar since then, who refused to marry him and kept shunning him. Come Monday 2.55pm, some students heard four gunshots from the overhead pedestrian bridge which they frequent everyday to cross the road. Panic and a stampede ensued, while upon investigation two dead bodies were found lying in a pool of blood on the bridge. Traffic came to a standstill while a passer-by informed police and a team with Racecourse Circle Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Riffat Bukhari reached the scene immediately.
After collecting forensic evidence from the scene and recording statements from the witnesses, the police moved the bodies to the morgue.
Samar was a resident of Faisalabad and was living with her aunt in Shahdara and Alam was a resident of Chungi Amr Sadhu, with a permanent address of Jinnah Colony, Sargodha and a temporary address of Rawalpindi mentioned on his Computerised National Identity Card.
The injured passer-by, Bashir, who was on his way home on a motorbike, said: “As I reached the overhead bridge on Jail Road in front of KC, I heard four gunshots, one of which injured me.”
Riffat told reporters that circumstantial evidence suggested that the accused boy was chasing the girl as she came out of the exit gate of KC at around 2.30pm and after the two had a heated argument, Alam whipped out a 30-bore pistol and shot her from close range in her left temple and neck, killing her immediately. Without wasting any time, Alam then shot himself in the head and ended his life as well.
Sub-Inspector Bashiran Bibi of Racecourse Women Police Station told Pakistan Today that a case (No 71/11) had been registered under Sections 302 and 324 of the Pakistan Penal Code against Alam.
Samar’s parents, who reached the police station after being informed of the incident, told police that Alam had been after their daughter for the last two months and Samar had also changed her cell phone number. They said he was so desperate that he even knew her timetable. They said he had chased her on Monday and asked her to call them and ask if he could marry her. They said they talked to him and requested him not to tease their daughter and to close the chapter, after which the girl’s father heard three shots being fired and Alam’s voice telling him that the chapter had been closed. Samar’s father said he tried to call her but did not receive any response.
Sarwaj Wasti, Samar’s brother, while talking to his relatives at City Morgue mentioned that Samar was at her native home in Faisalabad last weekend. He claimed that earlier on Monday he dropped Samar at her college as per routine and when he was about to reach Faisalabad, he received a call from Samar. “Samar dialled my number when she saw Shams standing near the bridge after coming out of the college,” he said, adding that she sounded panicked and was incoherent. He said he then asked Samar to give his mobile number to Alam and he would discuss the matter over with him.
“I called him but he said he would kill Samar because he could not bear it anymore,” he said, adding that he heard the shots on the phone too. “We immediately left our home and rushed to Lahore and when we got to KC, it was all over,” he said.
Alam worked for a local company posting advertisements on various websites, while Samar was an outstanding student. She had scored 836 marks in matriculation and had scored 397 marks in first year of ICS (Intermediate in Computer Sciences). Samar was survived by her parents, brother and three sisters, two of whom are still in school.
There’s a thin line between love and madness
