In a shockingly brutal incident, three women, nine children and two men lost their lives over an old feud in the village of Piplywala, some 10 kilometers east of Gujranwala, in the Saddar Police precincts on Thursday. The two men were shot dead by members of a rival ‘party’ in the morning over an old enmity, after which their family members set ablaze the houses of the assailants, killing the women and children inside.
Reportedly, Chaudhry Saifullah Goraya and Javed Goraya were rivals who had an ongoing feud that had already claimed three lives in the past. On Thursday morning, Saifullah and his nephew Usman were gunned down near their house by Javed’s men and a passerby, identified as Ashiq Hussain, was critically wounded. In retaliation, Saifullah’s brother Amjad and his four armed accomplices doused four houses of Javed’s family with petrol and set them on fire, waiting outside with guns to ensure the families inside the houses were killed.
Those who burned or choked to death inside the house were identified as Tanzila, Farah Bibi, Irshad Bibi, Fajar, Hajira, Maria, Abdullah, Wali Muhammad, Khushi Muhammad and two other children. The victims included a 6-month-old infant as well. The villagers did not dare to come to the besieged families’ aid since the culprits were standing outside the houses and sporadically firing shots in the air. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has taken serious notice of the incident and ordered the CPO to arrest all those involved in this heinous crime.
14 killed over longstanding feud
