Man throws acid at wife, daughter, stabs them

Daughter who was married a few months ago succumbs to injuries.

KARACHI: A 55-year-old man has been charged with throwing acid at his wife and daughter and stabbing them in Shah Faisal Colony early Tuesday.  The police have yet to establish the motive as he keeps giving conflicting statements.

For the past five months, Iftikhar Ahmed Siddiqi and his wife had been living at house No. 3/4 in Hajrabad that falls in Shah Faisal Colony jurisdiction. Before this, the family was living in the United States and they are all US nationals.

According to the neighbours, Siddiqi and his wife came to Pakistan to get their daughters Zakia and Ayesha married. Their three sons are still abroad. The combined wedding ceremony was held three months ago. Zakia, 25, was married to a relative, Ashraf, in Lodhra, Punjab, while Ayesha lives in Karachi.

“Zakia arrived at her parents’ house three days ago,” said neighbour Raheela Bibi. “She had plans to leave the country with her husband in a week.”

Other neighbours added that they were unaware of any disputes between Siddiqi and his family. “I woke up for Fajr prayers when I heard loud shouting,” said neighbour Aqeel Abbas. “People were shouting and running to catch him when I went outside.”

Siddiqi was fleeing with blood stains on his clothes. When people went in they found his wife and daughter injured. The neighbours took the victims to the nearest private hospital, where Zakia succumbed to her injuries. Siddiqi’s wife, Mustara Begum, 45, was taken to another private hospital, where the doctors said she was in a critical condition.

A few enraged people who had caught Siddiqi wanted to beat him up but they decided to tend to the victims first. They split into two groups - one took the women to the hospital while the other waited for the police.

As the police arrived, Siddiqi claimed that he had not killed his daughter and it was a conspiracy against him. “I swear, I did not hurt anyone,” he said. “My wife and her brothers were trying to take over the property. They also misplaced my green card.”

According to the police, Siddiqi first threw acid at his wife and daughter while they were asleep. “He then attacked them with a knife,” said DSP Ramzan Gopang.  “Both the mother and the daughter had over half a dozen slashes on their waists which suggested that they had put up a resistance.”

Gopang added that Siddiqi appears to be psychologically depressed and he keeps changing his statement. Initially, he had confessed, saying that his wife and brothers-in-law wanted to take over his property. He had wanted to kill his wife and had attacked his daughter when she came to her defence, the officer added.

The police have registered a case against Siddiqi and investigations are underway.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2011.