Couple burn to death after husband’s murder plan goes wrong

A couple was burnt to death in Korangi’s Zaman Town on Thursday after, according to the police, the husband doused his wife with petrol and set her on fire, which then engulfed him as well.

The incident took place at their home in Madina Colony near Coast Guard Chowrangi. The locals extinguished the fire and took the couple to the burns ward of Dr Ruth KM Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi.

The husband, Jamil Ahmed, 28, succumbed to his injuries during treatment. The wife, Muskan, 22, gave her statement to the police and held her husband responsible for the incident before she succumbed to her injuries as well.

Zaman Town SHO Rao Rafiq told The News that both of them had suffered up to 80 per cent burn injuries. “It was initially reported that the incident took place over financial distress and failure to pay the rent, as the house owner had asked them to vacate.”

Following the allegations against the house owner, police had taken him into custody, but he was released after Muskan gave her statement, implicating her husband in the incident.

“My husband was a drug addict. He often fought with me. He believed that I was friends with some man. Today he locked the door from the inside while fighting and poured petrol on me due to his suspicion, then set me on fire, but he also got burned.”

The officer said the couple had an infant son, but he remained safe because he was not in the house. During the incident, some of the victims’ belongings and a curtain caught fire, while the entire roof of the house turned black due to the thick smoke, he added.