Waseem Ahmed’s three-year-long fight for the possession of his children ended on the last night of 2011. The 24-year-old man visited his two daughters and son for the last time on the night of December 30, before being killed at the hands of his ex-wife, police said.
The police on Thursday charged Rashida*, his ex-wife, and her sister for murdering Ahmed. The two drugged him and then struck him in the head multiple times with a meat cleaver, police said.
“There were [several head wounds] and there were gashes on the body as well,” said a police official.
Ismail, Waseem’s brother, became suspicious and called police the next day after Waseem did not return home. Police arrived at the house in Bhara Kahu in the outskirts of the city. They took the two girls into custody who, during the investigations, confessed to the murder.
The two told police that Waseem was planning to kill them so they decided to pre-empt to save their lives. “He wanted custody of children and was planning to kill me after exhausting all other possible options to get the children,” the girl told the police. However, she could not give a satisfactory answer when asked how she came to know of the man’s alleged motives of killing her.
Apparently, the police said, Waseem came to his ex-wife’s house to meet his children. He used to bring them sweets and fruits every day and also gave money to their mother for the children’s expenses, police said.
The two sisters drugged Waseem by mixing sleeping pills in his tea. Waseem went to sleep on a bed in the TV lounge of the house and fell unconscious. At around 1am, the two women tortured and killed him, police said.
They left the body in the room as they took off his shoes and cellphone and hid them in a wardrobe, police said. But before they could dispose of the body, the crime was discovered.
They were sent to jail on judicial remand on Thursday after they confessed to the murder and identified the location of the murder weapon, a meat cleaver, and the belongings of the dead man.
Police said the couple was married for over six years and they were both of the same age. However, they developed differences some three years ago and the girl demanded divorce. She got divorced through court some three years ago and moved into a separate house with her sister.
They were married at a very young age on the suggestion of their religious centre, as both of them belonged to a minority sect, police said. Their eldest daughter is six years old.
Rashida took all her three children with her to jail as she refused to hand them over to Waseem’s parents. Police said his parents will have to get the possession of the children from court.
*Name changed to protect identity
Published in The Express Tribune, January 20th, 2012.
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