Quadruple homicide suspect confesses to crime in court

A judicial magistrate on Thursday recorded the confessional statement of the key suspect in a case pertaining to the murders of four women in Lyari.

Muhammad Bilal was arrested after the bodies of his 60-year-old mother Shamshad Farooq, 21-old sister Madiha Farooq, 20-year-old sister-in-law Ayesha Sameer, and 12-year-old niece Alina Razzak were found with their throats slit in a flat near Bantwa Street within the jurisdiction of the Baghdadi police station on the night of October 18. His friend, Shahzad, has also been booked and arrested on abetment charge.

The investigation officer produced both the suspects before Judicial Magistrate Kalsoom Mustafa on the completion of their physical remand. He moved an application to record Bilal's confessional statement under Section 164 of the criminal procedure code (CrPC).

In his statement before the magistrate, the suspect admitted that his friend Shahzad had been pressurising him for two months to kill his family members and transfer the ownership of his house to Shahzad's sister Sonia, whom he wanted to marry. The suspect said that he and Sonia were in love and wanted to get married.

After the confession, the magistrate sent the suspects to jail on judicial remand and directed the IO to submit a charge sheet within the stipulated time. An FIR was registered under the sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the PPC on the complaint of Muhammad Farooq, head of the family.