Man strangles minor daughter to death over 'illegitimate child' taunt

A man in Lahore allegedly strangled his three-year old daughter to death over suspicion that she was an 'illegitimate child' after his ex-wife taunted him that “she was not his daughter”.

Hanjarwal police on Sunday registered a case against the accused, Khuram Shahzad, and arrested him.

The accused had divorced his wife but the children were living with him. The young victim was playing in the courtyard when Shahzad strangled her and laid her on a bed.

When a neighbour came to see the children, she found the girl missing and asked for her. Khuram told the neighbour that she was sleeping in her room.

When the victim did not get up, her father and neighbour took the victim to the Jinnah Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

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Later, the doctors moved the victim for post-mortem examination to ascertain the cause of death. The autopsy report suggested the child was strangled to death.

Police said they had a suspicion after Khuram did not come to receive his daughter's body and went missing.

Following his arrest on Sunday, the accused confessed to the murder, saying his ex-wife told him that “Zohra Fatima was not his daughter and it was his friend’s blood that ran in her veins”.

“Her words kept hounding me,” he reportedly said, according to police.