Man ‘pushes four children into canal’

'Killer' father was angered by demand for Eid clothes

SHEIKHUPURA:

Police have arrested a man on suspicion of throwing his four children into a canal after they demanded new clothes for Eid. The suspect had claimed that the children had been kidnapped.

Khurrianwala police sought the help of Sheikhupura police to search for the children and handed over the suspect to them.

Rescue 1122 personnel conducted a search operation in the canal in view of information given by the suspect but the children have not been found despite the passage of four days.

According to the police, Khurrianwala SHO Inspector Mohsin Muneer detained 35-year-old Mohsin, son of Naseer, a resident of Chak No. 74RB, on suspicion. The suspect was taken to the police station for interrogation.

He revealed during interrogation that he had been fired from a mill where he worked and his family was facing starvation. He told the police that his wife Naseeb Bibi had gone to her parents' home in Farooqabad after quarrelling with him two weeks ago.

"I went thrice to bring her back but she did not come. Meanwhile, the children demanded clothes for Eid, so I took my four children, Javeria, Nimrah, Urwa and Zulqarnain away from his home on a motorcycle four days ago and took them to Bhikhi Canal on Sheikhupura Road on the pretext of buying clothes. I killed them and later claimed they they were missing," he stated, according to local police officials. However, none of the children or their bodies have been found.

The incident has shocked the residents of the locality.

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The police said the search for the children and further investigation into the case was continuing.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Inspector Munir said Mohsin was married to Naseeb Bibi, a resident of Farooqabad, eight years ago. The couple quarrelled frequently due to domestic problems.

The official said Naseeb Bibi went to her parents' house after an altercation two weeks ago. The suspect went to bring her back but she refused. Meanwhile, the children asked for the Eid clothes and their enraged father threw them into the canal.

The missing children are aged one to seven years.

The SHO said the suspect had been sent to Bhikhi police station for the registration of a case and further action against him.

Rescue 1122 teams are still searching for the children in the canal.

The mother of the children also reached Khurrianwala police station after getting to know that they were missing and her husband had been arrested. She kept crying and fainted several times.

The woman said her husband had called her on Monday night and told her that he had thrown their four children into a canal.

"I didn't believe him. I called some people of the village and asked about the children. They said they hadn't seen the children for four or five days and Mohsin was alone in the house. After this I informed the police and kept in touch with them," she said.

She said she had been informed that the police had arrested her husband and he had confessed that he had pushed the children into a canal after they demanded new clothes for Eid.

"I used to quarrel with my husband for not working. He often stays at home instead of working and wanders around with friends. When I asked him to .end his ways, he used to thrash me," she added.

Faisalabad CPO Sohail Chaudhry's PRO Muneeb Ahmed said the suspect had been handed over to Sheikhupura police and the case would be registered there on charges of pushing the children into the canal. The mother of the children has also been sent to Bhikhi police station. According to villagers of Chak No. 74, Mohsin had been living alone in his house for the past four days.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2021.