LAHORE: Two women have been arrested for murder after strangling a Pakistani faith healer with a scarf after years of being blackmailed over videos he took of them, police said on Monday.
The women told police they had turned to Riaz Hussain for help in removing black magic curses but he instead took compromising videos that he threatened to release.
“During the investigation it was found that Riaz Hussain had been sexually harassing women for a long time under the pretext of spiritual healing,” police in the city of Multan in Punjab province said in a statement.
The women, with the help of their cousin and another man, strangled the faith healer with a scarf before dumping his body.
The four have been arrested for murder, police said, adding that a fifth man has also been arrested.
Faith healers are revered by some communities in Pakistan and their orders are followed devotedly, allowing for widespread exploitation.
A pregnant woman was brought to a hospital with a nail hammered into her head in 2022 after a faith healer said it would guarantee she gave birth to a boy.
Another woman died the following year after being tortured with sticks for days by a faith healer who claimed to be following an exorcism ritual.
Women strangle blackmailing Pakistan faith healer — police
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Women strangle blackmailing Pakistan faith healer — police
- The women say they turned to Riaz Hussain for help in removing black magic curses but he instead took their compromising videos
- Faith healers are revered by some communities in Pakistan and their orders are followed devotedly, allowing for widespread exploitation
Pakistani stocks breach 176,000 points barrier as investors expect further rate cuts
- Pakistani financial analyst attributes surge to falling inflation, investors expecting further policy rate cuts
- Pakistan’s finance ministry said Thursday that inflation had slowed to 5.6 percent year-on-year in December
KARACHI: Pakistani stocks continued their bullish run on Thursday, breaching the 176,000 points barrier for the first time after trading ended, with analysts attributing the surge to investors expecting further cuts in the policy rate.
The KSE-100 benchmark gained 2,301.17 points at close of business on Thursday, marking an increase of 1.32 percent to settle at 176,355.49 points.
Pakistan’s central bank cut its key policy rate by 50 basis points to 10.5 percent last month, breaking a four-meeting hold in a move that surprised markets. Pakistan’s consumer price inflation slowed to 5.6 percent year-on-year in December, while prices fell on a monthly basis as per data from the finance ministry.
“Upbeat data for consumer price index (CPI) inflation at 5.6pc in December 2025 [with] investors expecting a further State Bank of Pakistan rate cuts on falling inflation data,” Ahsan Mehanti, CEO of Arif Habib Commodities Ltd., told Arab News.
The stock market witnessed a trading volume of 1,402.650 million shares, with a traded value of Rs48.424 billion ($173 million), compared with 957.239 million shares valued at Rs44.231 billion ($158 million) during the previous session.
Topline Securities, a leading brokerage firm in Pakistan, credited the surge to strong buying at the first session.
“This positivity can be accredited to buying by local institutions on the start of the new calendar year,” it said.
Pakistan’s Finance Adviser Khurram Schehzad highlighted that the bullish trend at the stock market reflected “strong investor confidence.”
“With lower inflation, affordable fuel, stronger reserves, rising digitization and a buoyant capital market, Pakistan’s economic outlook is clearly improving--supporting greater confidence, better investment sentiment and more positive momentum for 2026,” he said on social media platform X.
