Ongoing investigation: Police yet to solve quintuple death mystery

Five members of a family were found dead in their home on Tuesday

HYDERABAD: Police have yet to officially establish the cause of death of a couple and their three children who were found dead at a house in Masoom Shah Colony, Hyderabad on Tuesday.

The deceased, 40-year-old Kifayat Shaikh, 35-year-old Shaheen, eight-year-old Khizar, five-year-old Chand and four-year-old Mairaj were laid to rest at a local graveyard on Wednesday.

According to the police, the cause of death is either poisoning in a meal or suffocation caused by a gas heater. "Doctors are still uncertain about the cause of death," Cantonment ASP Sarfaraz Muhammad Virk told The Express Tribune.

The family was found lying dead in their beds at around 5pm on Tuesday when Kifayat's mother went to their room on the third floor of their house to check why none of them had been seen that day. According to the police, she turned off the gas heater after entering the room.

The police also recovered a pot which contained the meal that the deceased consumed the night before.

The organs of the deceased have been sent for forensic examination to Karachi. The police are also chemically examining the food that the family had consumed.

"According to the doctors no apparent signs of torture were found on the bodies. Moreover, nothing suspicious is found within the family," said the ASP. "Everything will become clear after receiving [the] reports."

A medico legal officer, who requested anonymity, said that they noticed change in facial colour in Kifayat but the faces of the other four bodies did not show any such change. The police have not registered an FIR yet.

The family avoided giving their version to the media. Syed Tayyab Hussain, Hyderabad Municipal Corporation mayor, MPA Rashid Khilji and other notable people attended the funeral.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13^th, 2017.