Infant strangled to death by mother over guardianship dispute

Police book the mother and three members of her family for murder

ISLAMABAD: Police are on the hunt for a woman who allegedly strangled her six-week-old son to death due to a guardianship dispute with her in-laws.

According to police, Sidrah, the suspect, married to Adnan Rasheed about a year ago but only about three weeks after the marriage had developed disagreement with her in-laws and came back to live with her parents in Chatha Bakhtawar, Islamabad. After around nine months, she gave birth to a baby boy, who was named Hashir.

In the meantime, she sought divorce and the boy’s father and his family demanded the custody of the boy. On August 16, somebody from the Sidra’s family phoned her in-laws and told them that the child had expired. He was taken to a hospital in Alipur where the doctors pronounced him dead.



The boy’s father, a resident of Chirah area, suspected that his son might have been killed given the circumstances, and lodged a complaint with Shahzad Town police station. Meanwhile, the child’s maternal grandfather, Sabir, also requested the police to carry out a medical examination of the child to determine the cause of death.

The police took the body to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) for an autopsy. Sub-inspector Tasadduq Hussain, who is investigation officer for the case, told The Express Tribune that the post-mortem examination found that the child was strangled to death.

Following the autopsy, the police arrested Sabir and Danyal, the child’s uncle. The police official said that during interrogation the infant’s grandfather confessed that Hashir was strangled to death by his mother.



Police have booked Sidrah, Sabir, Danyal and Nighat, the victim’s grandmother, for murdering the child on the complaint of his father. Sabir and Danyal were produced before a judicial magistrate on Saturday and were given into police custody for two days.

Police said they were on the hunt for the child’s mother and grandmother.

Results of a toxicology examination of the body are still awaited.