A newly married couple was shot dead in Karachi’s Malir area soon after appearing before a local court on Monday, according to a senior police official.

According to Korangi Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Fida Hussain Janwari, the couple was returning from the court when assailants, who were chasing their car, opened fire on them in the Saudabad locality.

SSP Janwari said that the woman’s family had lodged a complaint at Sachal Police Station over her disappearance.

However, the woman had recorded a statement before the Malir court that she had married of her own free will.

“The couple suffered critical injuries and died on the spot,” he said.

SSP Janwari added that the suspected assailants had been identified as the woman’s relatives, and concerted efforts were underway to arrest them.

Meanwhile, Police Surgeon Dr Sumaiyya Syed said that the couple — the husband aged 26 and the wife aged 20 — had sustained multiple gunshot injuries and were brought dead to the hospital.

Earlier this year, a young couple was gunned down over “honour” in Karachi’s Sohrab Goth area. Police officials had stated that a 30-year-old man and his 28-year-old wife were found dead inside a home in Lasi Goth with gunshot wounds.

In December, a couple who had married with mutual consent were killed by the woman’s father in Machar Colony area of the metropolis, in what the officials described as a so-called “honour killing”.