Man kills three daughters after business losses

SINDHHILIANWALI: A man strangled three of his daughters and attempted to murder his wife in Toba Tek Singh on Sunday, reportedly because he was overwhelmed by financial constraints.

Muhammad Bakhsh, a shareholder in a brick kiln situated in a nearby village, drugged his wife and daughters on Sunday. And when they lost consciousness, Bakhsh began strangling them with a piece of rope. Bakhsh’s daughters Zooia Kulsum, aged 14, Misbah Kulsum, aged 12, and Maafia Kulsum aged 9, were killed in the incident.

Bakhsh assumed his wife was also dead, and ran away, leaving behind a note that explained the “reason” for his crime. “I have murdered my family members to save them from the tyranny of society,” he wrote in the note. “And I will surrender to police after handling my enemies.” Bakhsh had five daughters.

His wife and his younger daughter Madiha Kulsoom managed to survive the assault. A fifth daughter was saved because she had gone to visit her uncle for the day. Bakhsh’s wife was admitted to the Civil Hospital at Pir Mahal, and the bodies of the three young girls have been handed over to the authorities for postmortem examinations. A case against Bakhsh has been registered at the Aroti police station by the girls’ maternal uncle. Reports indicate that Bakhsh was disturbed by recent financial losses suffered by his business, and was also upset that he did not have a male heir.

Published in the Express Tribune, May 24th, 2010.