Parents involvement suspected in children’s death
Police say there are conflicting reports regarding when the children died.
MULTAN:
In Multan’s Shujaabad tehsil three children died after a kiln labourer’s house caught fire.
According to locals in Shujaarbaad’s Daad valley, kiln labourer Hafiz Ahmed’s wife locked her three children in a room located adjacent to the brick kiln and left to go to the market with her husband. When the couple returned home all three children had died of suffocation. Fearing police action, the family buried the bodies within hours and neighbours found out about the incident two days later when they noticed the children were missing. “I don’t know if it was an accident or if it was intentional. They didn’t tell us the children were dead but we saw Ameena Bibi crying by the ground when someone dug up the bodies,” said Hafiz Ahmed’s neighbour Nasreen.
In Shujaabad’s Daad valley, kiln laborer Hafiz Ahmed’s wife Ameena Bibi locked her three children Naveed, 1, Mudassar, 4, and Muzammil, 6, and left the house. All three children died of suffocation during the time the parents were out of the house. Neighbours of the family informed the police of the incident two days after it happened, on Tuesday, and said that the children had been buried in secret.
“I think it was an accident because there were also some burnt crops outside the kiln so it seems that there was an actual fire rather than the children just having died of suffocation,” said kiln labourer Shaukat.
Police officials said that conflicting accounts of the incident had emerged following the deaths. “When we were called in to investigate there were two different accounts of what happened,” said Inspector Shahid Pasha. “One group of people told me that the children died of suffocation and were buried in secret and another said that they were buried after the entire village helped put out a fire at the kiln,” he said.
SHO Javed Latif said that police were conducting a inquiry into the incident because of the conflicting statements. “There are people who say the children died of suffocation because they were locked in the room and that the parents staged a fire after the incident to cover it up,” he said, adding “Another group said the children died in a fire that the entire village helped put out after hours.”
Local residents said that the parents had not reported the incident fearing the reaction of the police. “I cannot believe they are trying to blame this on us. My children have died and they now think that I could have been responsible,” Ameena Bibi told police. Ameena and Hafiz Ahmed said that their children died in a terrible fire and that they had done everything they could to save their lives.
Police officials have sent the bodies of the children for an autopsy and said that they would pursue the case based on the medical evidence.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 5th, 2011.
In Multan’s Shujaabad tehsil three children died after a kiln labourer’s house caught fire.
According to locals in Shujaarbaad’s Daad valley, kiln labourer Hafiz Ahmed’s wife locked her three children in a room located adjacent to the brick kiln and left to go to the market with her husband. When the couple returned home all three children had died of suffocation. Fearing police action, the family buried the bodies within hours and neighbours found out about the incident two days later when they noticed the children were missing. “I don’t know if it was an accident or if it was intentional. They didn’t tell us the children were dead but we saw Ameena Bibi crying by the ground when someone dug up the bodies,” said Hafiz Ahmed’s neighbour Nasreen.
In Shujaabad’s Daad valley, kiln laborer Hafiz Ahmed’s wife Ameena Bibi locked her three children Naveed, 1, Mudassar, 4, and Muzammil, 6, and left the house. All three children died of suffocation during the time the parents were out of the house. Neighbours of the family informed the police of the incident two days after it happened, on Tuesday, and said that the children had been buried in secret.
“I think it was an accident because there were also some burnt crops outside the kiln so it seems that there was an actual fire rather than the children just having died of suffocation,” said kiln labourer Shaukat.
Police officials said that conflicting accounts of the incident had emerged following the deaths. “When we were called in to investigate there were two different accounts of what happened,” said Inspector Shahid Pasha. “One group of people told me that the children died of suffocation and were buried in secret and another said that they were buried after the entire village helped put out a fire at the kiln,” he said.
SHO Javed Latif said that police were conducting a inquiry into the incident because of the conflicting statements. “There are people who say the children died of suffocation because they were locked in the room and that the parents staged a fire after the incident to cover it up,” he said, adding “Another group said the children died in a fire that the entire village helped put out after hours.”
Local residents said that the parents had not reported the incident fearing the reaction of the police. “I cannot believe they are trying to blame this on us. My children have died and they now think that I could have been responsible,” Ameena Bibi told police. Ameena and Hafiz Ahmed said that their children died in a terrible fire and that they had done everything they could to save their lives.
Police officials have sent the bodies of the children for an autopsy and said that they would pursue the case based on the medical evidence.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 5th, 2011.