Mother of ‘lost’ Edhi Centre boy found dead

Man who brought child to Edhi Foundation now prime suspect

Karachi

The gruelling search for parents of three-year-old Abdullah brought to the Edhi Centre on May 25 came to an end after his mother’s body was found from an apartment located in the crowded Delhi Colony vicinity on Tuesday night.

The strangulated body of twenty-five-year-old Haleema Bibi was identified by a man claiming to be her brother, at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC). His identity was, however, not revealed by police authorities. 

As they got down to unfurl the mystery, it turned out that around three days after the boy’s pictures were circulated on TV channels, a man named Khurram contacted the Edhi Centre and confirmed the boy’s and his parents names to Faisal Edhi.

The man identified himself as the family’s neighbour in Korangi, and claimed that the family originally hailed from Mansehra and had left Korangi three months ago for Punjab for the husband’s – Iqbal - heart treatment. They had since not been seen in the area.

The neighbour’s statement was corroborated by the woman’s brother who informed police officials that the family had gone to Multan for Iqbal’s treatment where he had died. She had, however, travelled back to Karachi around two months ago.

It was around 2:30 am on Tuesday when officials at the Frere police station were informed of a stench emanating from an apartment.

Further investigations revealed that the woman had moved in the apartment around 15 days ago, while the real estate agent, Rizwan Ayan Khan, who had brokered the deal, was in fact the man who had brought the minor to the Edhi Centre.

The CCTV footage released by the centre showed the man with the boy. As per officials present at the orphanage, the man had claimed that he had found Abdullah at Sea View.

According to the medico-legal-officer of the JPMC, the body was completely decomposed and the cause of her death could only be confirmed after the post-mortem report was released.

Police officers further informed that the contact numbers Rizwan had exchanged with other real estate agents in Delhi Colony and the Edhi Centre were all switched off; however, a search to locate him was underway.