Couple, two kids found murdered

LAHORE

A couple and their two children were found murdered at their home under mysterious circumstances in the Nawab Town police limits on Tuesday. 

The police during initial probe believed that the head of the family had first killed his wife and two children and later committed suicide. However, autopsy and further investigation would help resolve the murder mystery. The deceased were identified as Maalik, 26, his wife Asiya and two children Maryam, 5, and one-and-a-half year old son Asif, of Rasool Pura Village. They were found dead in their three-storey house in Nawab Town. Maalik was living at the house of his in-laws, as his wife was the daughter of his father’s sister. 

Maalik’s father Arif of Pattoki told the police that his son was living in the area along with his children to earn his livings. On the day of incident, his daughter Irum told him by phone that Maalik used to go to job at 6 am but he didn’t go over which she got perturbed and went upstairs. She found the four victims in a pool of blood. Police have registered a murder case on the complaint of Maalik’s father. 

Police received call at around 6 am from one of the members of the family living in the lower floor of the house that four members of his family were lying in a pool of blood at the third floor of the house. Local police and Edhi ambulances rushed the scene and cordoned off the crime scene. The woman and children were strangled while Maalik’s pulse veins of both wrists were cut with a knife, which was also recovered from the crime scene.

An electric wire was also entangled around his neck. The wire was fixed with the ceiling of the room. There were marks of blood stains on floor of the house. He also had a mark of injury of a sharp-edged weapon on his neck. Boundary wall of the floor had also marks of blood. The victim woman and minor kids had marks around their neck suggesting that they were strangled. 

A senior investigator said the circumstantial evidence implied the head of the family committed suicide after strangling his wife and children. Police recovered a new knife.

Police Crime Scene Unit, Organised Crime Cell and officials of Homicide Cell reached the scene and collected forensic evidences. The investigators said the victim was a young healthy man and had worked at wooden saw (aara). The blood clotted and did not bleed much. When the victim presumed his effort of suicide failing, he tried to cut his throat with the knife. He moved to the boundary wall and tried to climb it but could not succeed. He took an electric wire, tied it to the iron guarder of the roof and hung himself. The wire could not sustain his weight and broke down. Police said the main gate of the house was locked from inside which implied no one from outside entered the premises. Police could not find any evidence so far that could suggest that someone had entered the house to kill them. Police did not find any evidence of resistance. 

Police said Maalik’s brothers and their children had gone to Sunder to attend funeral of their uncle. Maalik and his family had stayed at home. At night, his sister in law who also lived nearby came to his house and left. In the morning, the family returned and witnessed the tragedy. The victim worked as a security guard at an under construction Emporium Mall near Expo Center Johar Town.

A close kin of Maalik named Javed said that the victim’s family originally belonged to Pattoki and had property and house at Nawab Town. He dealt in wood business and run a saw but suffered a loss few months before, gave up the business and, joined a security company as a guard. He was married to Asiya ten years before. Javed and victim’s father said that they were happy and never had a dispute. They had no enmity with anyone, he claimed. “My cousin was heir to a property of millions of rupees. He was not a poor man”, Javed said, ruling out suicide due to financial crisis. Police investigators said that they were working on different angles but their preliminary investigations suggested the victim doubted character of his wife and murdered her and his children for honour.

The incident created panic in the locality as hundreds of people of nearby areas and victims’ relatives gathered outside the house of the victim. Family members of the victim were weeping and crying. Heavy contingent of police and senior police officers including CCPO, DIG Investigations, DIG Operations, SSP Investigations and Operations, SP CIA, SP Sadar Investigations and Operations reached the spot.

SP Sadar Investigations Atif Nazeer said experts of Homicide Unit, Crime Scene Unit and Punjab Forensic Science Agency collected forensic evidence from the crime scene. They have removed the bodies to morgue for autopsy and would send samples to Forensic Science Agency for medical evidence. It was premature to say it was murder or suicide. The matter would be decided after thorough investigation. They were investigating the matter keeping in view different angles including suicide and homicide. He said so far the police collected evidences, performed autopsy and recorded statements of eyewitnesses.