The bodies of a woman, her three children and her brother were recovered from her house in Shujabad on Monday. Police suspect that her husband’s nephew had killed them all.
The bodies were sent for a post-mortem examination. A case was registered against the suspect, who the police said had been missing.
Police said initial investigation had revealed that the suspect, Muhammad Fareed, 32, a resident of Khakhi Banjaani, had asked his maternal uncle’s wife, Fatima Bibi, to visit his girlfriend’s house with his marriage proposal. They said Fatima Bibi had asked her brother Muhammad Riaz to accompany her to the woman’s house.
They said a dispute started between them when Riaz sent his proposal to the woman’s house instead.
Police said this had caused several arguments between Fareed and Fatima Bibi.
On Monday, their neighbours said an argument started between them when Riaz visited their house.
They said they could hear them shout at each other. They said a few minutes later the shouting stopped and there was complete silence.
They said when some of them went inside their house to see what had happened, they found Fatima Bibi, her children Haleema, Ramazan and Shahbaz, and Riaz lying in a pool of blood.
They were taken to tehsil headquarters hospital, where Fatima Bibi and Riaz were pronounced dead.
Doctors treating the injured said they were in critical condition. They were shifted to Nishtar Hospital.
Doctors said all of them had deep cuts on the back of their neck. They said there were at least 10 more cuts on their bodies.
They said they had found traces of sedatives in their blood and speculated that they had been drugged before they were attacked.
Saddar Station House Officer Ibrar Gujjar said an FIR had been registered against Fareed. He said a police team was looking for him.
He said Fatima Bibi’s husband was at work when the incident happened.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 3rd, 2013.