The Saudabad robbery that wasn’t: Girl confesses to murdering younger sister with help of fiancé

KARACHI: The case of a teenage girl’s murder during an alleged robbery at a house in Saudabad on December 5 took a sinister turn on Sunday when the police revealed that the victim’s throat was slit by none other than her elder sister.

The incident shows how fabric of our family life has broken after incorporation of latest communication gadgets in our daily routine, and how social media are creating a gap between parents and children. The famous adage that blood is thicker than water is proving false in this gory incident. 

Korangi SSP Noman Siddiqui said Aleena, 16, was found dead at her house, with her family claiming that a couple of robbers had forced their way in and slit the girl’s throat and injured her 18-year-old sister Alveena, before making off with cash, jewellery and other items. An investigating team, comprising Saudabad’s SHO and DSP and the Shah Faisal SP, inspected the crime scene and recorded the statements of the family and their neighbours.

When Alveena and her fiancé Mazhar were detained for questioning, they confessed to their involvement in the murder and also handed over the things that were supposed to have been robbed.

Citing the elder sister, SSP Siddiqui said her family had moved to Saudabad a few months ago and her father sold poppadoms for a living while her mother worked at a garment factory.

Alveena told the police that her younger sister let in her friend named Ahsan after the girls’ parents left the house early every morning. She said she tried to stop Aleena several times but all in vain.

The elder sister lamented that instead of stopping Ahsan from coming to their house, Aleena got her (Alveena) involved with the man’s elder brother Abbas, who started making regular visits to the house as well.

Aleena filmed and took pictures of Alveena during Abbas’s visits and used them to pressurise the 18-year-old into keeping mum about the goings on at the house, said the police, adding that the blackmail caused several altercations between the sisters.

The police statement said Alveena once met Ahsan outdoors to request him to delete her photos and videos, but when he turned a deaf ear to her plea, she begged Aleena, who simply cold-shouldered her.

When all the doors were shut on the possibility of reclaiming her life, Alveena turned to Mazhar, with whom she plotted her sister’s murder, said the police.

According to Alveena, Mazhar visited the girls’ house on December 5, when she requested Aleena once again to delete the photos and videos, but when the 16-year-old remained adamant even in the face of threats, the fiancé held Aleena down as the elder sister slit her throat, following which Alveena handed over mobile phones, jewellery and other items to Mazhar so she could tell the police that their house was robbed.

Mazhar told the police that he had agreed to help his fiancée murder her sister after she told her that she might have to commit suicide if the blackmail did not stop.

SSP Siddiqui said the police had also detained the brothers in question, namely Ahsan and Abbas. He also claimed that the case was an example of parental negligence.