A man was arrested in Muzaffargarh on Thursday for killing 10 members of a family by poisoning their food on May 30 with help from a woman. The woman, Shaheen Bibi, is already in police custody.
Police said the two had confessed to poisoning the food.
Police said Hazoor Bakhsh was arrested during a raid in the outskirts of Muzaffarhgarh. He was arrested from a farmhouse of a friend he was hiding in. Police said he had earlier fled to Dera Ghazi Khan, from where he had fled when the place was raided.
Police said Bakhsh had an affair with Shaheen Bibi, a resident of Meer Hazar village in Jatoi.
Police quoted Bakhsh as saying that he and Shaheen had planned to elope, but her brother-in-law, Ghulam Yaseen, had become suspicious about her relationship with Bakhsh. She had denied the allegation, they added.
Bakhsh said they had mixed the poison in flour that was used to make bread for the family.
Nine of them who ate the bread had died within 48 hours. The deceased included Shaheen’s two children and husband and Yaseen’s five children. Police said Yaseen had from a heart attack two days later.
Shaheen Bibi was arrested on suspicion, being the only surviving family member.
Muzaffargarh District Police Officer Rana Abdul Jabbar said the suspects had both confessed to the crime. They said they had wanted to marry and knew that her husband would never divorce her.
Bakhsh said they had not intended to kill the family. He said they had planned to flee when once all the family fainted from poisoning.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 19th, 2013.