Matricide: Alleged murderer sent into judicial remand

Police now seek to record statement of suspect's sister

KARACHI: A man, who allegedly killed his mother over a domestic dispute, was remanded to jail custody on Monday after the investigating officer (IO) informed the judicial magistrate that the suspect's interrogation had been completed.

Ghulam Rabbani, a joint director at the State Bank of Pakistan, is accused of killing his mother, Naseema Akhter, during a domestic fight which involved his sister, Tanvir Fatima, as well. He was arrested on February 19 after neighbours informed the police about the incident.

During the hearing, the IO told judicial magistrate, Shees Khoso, that the statement of the suspect's sister had been recorded following her medical recovery. According to her, Rabbani and her mother were arguing over a domestic dispute during which Rabbani got infuriated and stabbed his mother with a kitchen knife. Fatima said she fainted after that, and when she regained consciousness she found her mother lying dead.

The suspect had confessed to the crime at the time of his arrest and on his first appearance in court. However, he later retracted his statement during a hearing and asserted that the murder took place during a robbery at his flat in Clifton. Robbers barged into the house and as the elderly woman put up resistance they killed her, the suspect told the judge on Saturday, adding that he was not even present in the house at the time.

As the judge sent the suspect to jail on judicial remand for 14 days, the IO submitted an application for recording Fatima's statement in court under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2016.