Three minor siblings found slain

Bodies of missing girls discovered in quarters next-door

MUZAFFARGARH:

Three minor sisters were found murdered in cold blood in a residential quarter in the Muzaffargarh Thermal Power Station Colony on Tuesday.

Police officials said the three girls were the daughters of Security Sergeant Ijaz. Two of them had been slaughtered and the third strangled.

Abiha Fatima, aged seven, and eight-year-old Zahra Ijaz had gone outside their home to play on Monday. Their 11-year-old sister Arisha Fatima had gone to find them when they did not return home but she had also gone missing.

When the city police were informed about the incident, they kept searching the colony until late night but failed for trace the missing girls.

However, their bodied were found in the morning in vacant quarters next to their home, which had not been checked earlier.

District Police Officer Syed Hasnain Haider told the media that three brothers of the deceased had been detained and were being interrogated after the registration of a case.

The post-mortem report confirmed that two of the girls had been killed by slitting their throats, while the third had been strangled to death.

The bodies were taken to the native area of the family in Talagang for burial.

The caretaker chief minister of Punjab sought an immediate report about the incident from the Dera Ghazi Khan regional police officer.

The mutilated bodies of the three missing young sisters were found the morning after the failure of efforts to search for hem by the police as well as the security staff of the colony.

A local resident said there had been complaints of unauthorized people residing in the staff colony. According to police sources, there were reports that the adjoining vacant quarters were also used by the family of the girls.

A team led City Police Station SHO Sabir Klasra started an investigation into the incident. Muzaffargarh District Police Officer Syed Hasnain Haider, District Emergency Officer Dr Hussain Mian and City DSP Rehan Rasool also visited the crime scene and obtained information regarding the incident.

Police officials said they were also interrogating members of the victims’ family.

Forensics teams also collected evidence from the spot and Rescue 1122 workers were also called.

Speaking to the media, DPO Hasnain Haider said the police and local people had kept searching for the girls after they had been reported missing at night. The investigation was under way, he added.

The official said all the relevant people were being interrogated regarding the case. After collecting forensic evidence, the rescue team shifted the bodies to the district headquarters hospital for post-mortem.

The sources said the police were interrogating the brothers of the deceased in view of suspicious circumstances.

They said the administration of the colony had received complaints regarding the accommodation of unauthorized people in the colony for a long time.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 19^th, 2023.