Murdered Larkana artist was pregnant, killed for declining dance 'request'

LARKANA: A local artist gunned down Tuesday night during a wedding ceremony was, in fact, shot for refusing to entertain the gunman's dance request, Geo News reported, citing reports that surfaced Wednesday evening.

Samina Sindhu, a famed local performer, was murdered yesterday in the city's Kanga locality when a guest opened fire on her during an event over her refusal to accept his specific dance request.

According to Abdullah Sheikh, the Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) for Larkana, Sindhu's killer, identified as Tariq Jatoi, was arrested.

Sindhu's body was moved to Chandka Medical College Hospital for a postmortem soon after her murder. It was revealed later that she was pregnant at the time. 

Local sources disclosed that Jatoi, who had ordered her at gunpoint to entertain his wishes, had commanded her to stand up and dance, instead of singing while sitting.

While she did choose to stand up, she refused to dance on stage in front of the packed audience, following which she was shot at. Sindhu died on the spot in a case that the deceased's husband called a double homicide.

Sheikh, the DIG, noted that the weapon used to murder the singer was recovered, a first information report (FIR) filed in the Kanga police station, and a medical test of the accused ordered.

Commenting that further action would be taken after the accused's medical report is released, the police officer explained that videos made during the wedding event would likely be made part of the consequent investigation.

Former president Asif Ali Zardari, who is also the co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), took notice of the incident and stressed that the accused should be brought into the court of law.

Further, Sindh Home Minister Suhail Anwar Siyal, on Wednesday morning, took notice of the firing incident and advised Tanvir Hussain Tunio, the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) for Larkana, to submit a report in this regard.

It was earlier reported that Sindhu was shot dead by two weddinggoers, both of whom started firing while in a drunk state and were subsequently arrested by law enforcement agencies (LEAs), which reached the crime scene soon after gunfire rang out.

However, it was made clear later that there was one gunman who fatally shot Sindhu.