Man held for dumping woman’s body in drum

Police on Sunday claimed to have resolved the mystery behind the murder of a woman whose slaughtered body was found in a drum in Karachi’s Defence area a couple of days ago by arresting a suspect who had allegedly dumped the body.

Meanwhile, the search continues for two prime suspects who had allegedly murdered the woman. According to Zone South police chief DIG Asad Raza, a suspect, namely Adil, was arrested in connection with the case. The deceased woman was identified as Wazir Mai, alias Haseena. DIG Raza said she was married and hailed from Bahawalpur. She lived in Karachi with two men, Sohaib and Hazratullah.

Police also recorded the initial statement of the arrested suspect who declined his involvement in the murder. “I am not involved in the murder. When I and Hazratullah arrived home, Haseena was already murdered,” Adil claimed. “Haseena’s body was in the drum. We covered the drum and threw it on a vacant plot.”

The suspect also stated that Sohaib had actually murdered the woman as he had arrived at home earlier that day and was infuriated at seeing her talking to someone else. Sohaib murdered her in anger, Adil said.

DIG Raza explained that police had also established contact with the deceased woman’s husband who resided in Bahawalpur and he had been called Karachi to register a case. The officer clarified that if her family members did not register an FIR, the case would be registered on behalf of the state.

The South DIG said efforts were under way for the arrest of Sohaib and Hazratullah. Further investigations are under way. The woman’s body was found in the drum on Friday night near the Fatima Masjid in DHA Phase VII. According to the initial post-mortem report, the body was around four to five days old.

Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed reported that the body was in an advanced stage of decomposition. DNA samples were sent to a lab as the cause of death could not be immediately ascertained.