Slain digital media executive Hina Javed. — Facebook/@Amala_khanzay

• Zeeshan worked at Hina’s house for seven months: Arshad.
• Arshad alleges Faisal forced his son to intervene in crime.
• Arshad denies police claims of his Zeeshan’s criminal record.

RAWALPINDI: The father of Zeeshan Arshad, a domestic worker accused in the Hina Javed murder case, has claimed his son is innocent and is being framed as the main accused.

“My son is innocent,” Muhammad Arshad said, alleging that investigators were trying to make his son the prime suspect in the case.

Zeeshan has been accused of helping Faisal Asghar, the husband of the victim, in carrying out the murder.

Hina, 45, was found dead in the bathroom of her residence in Rawalpindi’s Lal Kurti area on August 21. Her murder case was registered at the Civil Lines police station on the complaint of her brother, who alleged that she had been subjected to violence before her death.

The post-mortem report had revealed a fracture in her neck bone, injuries to her ribs and hip, and blood around the heart.

Police later arrested Faisal and Zeeshan in connection with the case, while Hina’s father-in-law was also named in the investigation. Earlier police accounts alleged that Faisal had offered money to Zeeshan to assist in the killing.

Meanwhile, Zeeshan’s father said that his son had been working at Hina’s house for seven months before the incident. According to his father, Zeeshan told him that he woke up on the night of August 20 after hearing a commotion during an argument between Hina and her husband.

According to Arshad, Zeeshan said Faisal was chasing Hina when he encountered the domestic worker and told him to catch her.

Arshad said his son had told him that he refused to get involved in the couple’s dispute. However, Faisal allegedly beat him and ordered him at gunpoint to catch Hina, according to the father’s account.

“Whatever he did was under coercion,” Arshad claimed, saying that the entire focus of the murder investigation had been shifted towards his son.

He further alleged that police subjected Zeeshan to torture during remand and pressured him to confess to the crime.

Arshad also alleged that Faisal had killed Hina and then hanged her in the bathroom.

The father said Zeeshan was 18 or 19 years old and had no previous criminal cases against him, accusing police of misrepresenting his background.

Arshad maintained that police had placed the entire responsibility for Hina’s murder on his son.