Family feud: Seven people of the same family murdered

The victims, whose bodies were mutilated, include two children. Police are waiting on autopsy results to investigate.

MULTAN:

The bodies of seven murdered people from one family have been found in their house in the Sadiqabad area of Rahim Yar Khan district.

The victims, including two children aged four and five, were discovered with slit throats and mutilated bodies. The gruesome deaths were reported after people noticed a stench emanating from the house, although police say the murder took place three days ago.

The bodies have been sent to the Sadiqabad’s Civil Hospital for a postmortem, after which investigations are to be launched.

The murder victims include Maqsood Sadiq, his wife, his two daughters, his son and two grandsons. Sadiq’s daughter Lubna was living with her parents after a feud with her in-laws. His brother Abdul Khaliq has accused the in-laws of the killings, blaming in particular Lubna’s husband’s brothers. “These men are responsible for all this. They had threatened my niece and she told us that she feared for her life when she had returned home,” Khaliq said.

According to sources, there has been a long ongoing property dispute between the two families, which started when Lubna’s husband passed away some years ago. Lubna’s brothers-in-law allegedly wished to usurp her share of her husband’s property. Her uncle told reporters that she had left the house because she feared they would kill her to claim her property.

On the other hand, residents of the area told The Express Tribune that Sadiq’s family had been involved in killing seven members of another family 10 years ago, and suspected that the relatives of those victims had sought revenge.

Police officials have said that they are waiting on DNA results and the autopsy results from the hospital before proceeding with an investigation. Police officials have already begun recording statements from Sadiq’s family and neighbours and said that the case would be thoroughly investigated and the murderers would be brought to justice.

Rahim Yar Khan’s District Police Officer said that investigations were underway although ‘no one could be blamed yet’. “We do not have a clear suspect as yet and must wait on DNA results before we have a clearer direction to the investigation,” he said.



Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th, 2011.