A case that police initially logged as a hit-and-run has turned into a murder investigation after Ahmedabad’s M Division traffic police found that a 22-year-old woman’s death was, in fact, a planned killing carried out by her own father and brother.
Her father, 56-year-old Mohammed Farooq Nawabkhan, and her brother, 38-year-old Habil Farooq, have been taken into custody. The victim, Sofia Farooq, a resident of the Sarkhej area, worked as a receptionist at a hospital in Juhapura.
On the night of August 12, Sofia was riding pillion on a motorcycle with her brother Habil when, according to the initial complaint, an unidentified vehicle rammed into them from behind near Samruddh Dairy.
The two ran a fabrication business together, according to police. Her father and brother had reprimanded her over the clip and objected to her continuing to talk to other young men, according to M Division traffic police inspector U B Dhakada. The father and son lured Sofia to a secluded stretch near Gheljipura in Sarkhej, according to the police account. Dhakada said the fabricated accident narrative was designed specifically to mislead investigators and buy the accused time.
She succumbed to her injuries at Sola Civil Hospital roughly a day later. But as investigators dug into inconsistencies in the story, a very different picture emerged. Police say the real motive traced back nearly three months, to a video that had gone viral showing Sofia with a male friend. That disapproval reportedly hardened into a grudge, and the two men allegedly began planning to kill her, believing, investigators say, that it was necessary to protect the family’s standing in their community. There, Habil allegedly struck her on the head three times with a hammer, with his father assisting him. Afterward, the two allegedly moved her to a public road and staged the scene to look like a motorcycle had been hit by a passing vehicle, then filed a false complaint describing an unknown vehicle fleeing the scene. Police have registered a murder case against the father-son duo.
The investigation is ongoing, and officers are expected to examine phone and location records, along with statements from family and neighbours, to establish the full timeline of the alleged conspiracy.
