Baldia attack: bride narrowly escapes death by abandoning post-wedding ritual

The thirteen women, teenage boys and babies who were killed in a grenade attack in Karachi’s Baldia Saturday night were on their way back not from a wedding but a post-nuptial ritual as part of Pakhtun tradition. Had fate not intervened, the bride’s name could also have been on the list of victims.

The attack took place at Hub River Road (also known as RCD highway) near Mowach Morr. The Shehzore mini truck, whose cargo bed was packed with about 25 passengers, mostly women, their sons and brothers, was attacked by militants, said police. Initial reports on Saturday night suggested that they were returning from a wedding in Faqeera Goth but additional details emerged Sunday.

ANP Sindh General Secretary Younus Buneri told Samaa Digital that the wedding took place a week ago and that the women were returning after performing a post-nuptial ritual.

In Pakhtun tradition, after a wedding, the women of the family perform a post-nuptial ritual that involves them visiting the bride after a week.

This explains why there was a large number of women in the vehicle. They were accompanied by their teenage sons, brothers and children.

The women came from six households, and the total number of families targeted in the attack is nine. They all come from the same extended family, which hails from Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Shamsher Ali’s wife Saleema Bibi, 50, was killed with their three sons, Sufian, 13, Hammad, 11 and Fahad, 6. A critically injured Fahad was taken to the National Institute of Child Health, a key health facility for children in Karachi. He succumbed to his injuries by early Sunday morning.

Rahim Dil has lost his wife Malkeen, 47, and two sons Salman, 16, and Usman 15. One of the two teenagers, Salman, battled death for hours.

From Dildar’s household, Shaheen Begum, 45, Sadaqat Bibi, 40, and Nusrat Bibi, 25, were killed. Sadaqat Bibi breathed her last on the operating table at the Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital, Karachi.

After the attack on Saturday night at 9:45pm, the dead and injured were first rushed to Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital where doctors performed emergency surgeries.

Meraj Khan lost his wife Sharafat Bibi, 40, while Sher Ali mourns his 25-year-old daughter Aqsa. Two other women from Sher Ali’s household, Iqra, 30, and Safia, 45, have been injured.

Izhar Khan’s wife Sakeena, 34, was wounded in the explosion, but worse still, she has lost her one-year-old son Zoyan.

Other victims of the grenade attack include Rukhsana, 35, wife of Abdur Rasheed, Wizarat, 35, wife of Shahid, and Sumaira, 25, daughter of Farman.

Buneri said that the daughter of party member Farman Ali was injured. Farman Ali works for Johnson & Johnson company and is also a labour leader. Farman Ali and his family have been associated with the Awami National Party for the past 40 years. Buneri added that Farman Ali and his four brothers were in Sherpao Colony, Quaidabad.

Many of the the women and children belonged to Ali’s brothers’ families. A few days ago, a daughter from Farman Ali’s family was married to a young man from Baldia Town. The groom is also from Swat and is a relative.

There is a custom in Farman Ali’s family that a few days after the wedding, the boys invite the girls, in which the women of the bride’s house go over and on their return they take the bride with them for a few days. According to Buneri, Farman Ali’s family took leave after dinner. He had rented a large truck. The bride was supposed to go with them, but the groom’s family stopped her, saying that the night was over and that the bridegroom would take her at some point the next day. This is why the bride did not get into the truck.

The police suspect a banned separatist organization was behind the attack that coincided with the Independence Day celebrations.

This is a developing story and will be updated accordingly.