Three Act Murder: Plot unravels in Karachi's Gulshan Iqbal with father, son held for homicide

Father says he poisoned wife, daughter, daughter-in-law for planned suicide over mounting debt, then backed out

Police have arrested a father and son on charges of murder after uncovering what investigators describe as a planned mass suicide that left three women dead in Gulshan-e-Iqbal’s Harmain Residency.

Iqbal and his son Yaseen are now in custody following the deaths of 52-year-old Samina, Iqbal's wife, their 19-year-old daughter Samreen, and 22-year-old daughter-in-law Maha, whose bodies were discovered in their second-floor apartment in Block 1 on Sunday.

According to SHO Gulshan-e-Iqbal Rao Naeem Rajput, the five-member family had planned a sequence of suicides in advance, with Iqbal orchestrating the plan. The scheme called for Iqbal to take his own life last, but he lost his nerve at the final moment.

Police say the first to die was Maha. In her suicide note, she addressed her brothers, apologising for marrying against their wishes out of love, and requested that she and Yaseen be buried next to each other.

After the women's murders, Iqbal gave Yaseen juice laced with sleeping pills. He was found unconscious at the scene and taken to hospital.

Investigators recovered four letters written by Iqbal from the flat. One contained the names and mobile numbers of his siblings with instructions to contact them for burials after his death. A second letter was addressed to the administration of Harmain Residency, detailing outstanding dues and which of his belongings should be sold to repay debts.

In a third letter to relatives, Iqbal complained they had not helped during difficult times. The fourth letter contained drawings of five graves with markings indicating which family member would occupy each one.

Police also recovered rat poison in liquid form and more than a dozen strips of sleeping pills from the apartment, some of both consumed. Officials said they are awaiting toxicology and chemical analysis reports to further clarify the cause of death.

The case initially puzzled investigators after Iqbal gave a contradictory account. He told police that around 3:30am, Yaseen, Samreen, and Samina informed him that Maha had died. He claimed Samina then went to bed, covered herself with a blanket, and later passed away, followed by Samreen lying down on a couch and also dying.

Doctors at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre reported that one body appeared partially decomposed, indicating the women may not have died simultaneously. This, police said, was one of the factors that raised suspicion regarding the circumstances of the deaths.

Further, a police official said, “there were no marks on the bodies, and nothing at the scene suggests an attack. We are waiting for forensic confirmation.” The victims showed no visible signs of violence or forced entry, and initial medical findings did not suggest strangulation or external injury, according to police.

Iqbal and his family had been suffering from severe financial distress for the past four months. They were required to vacate their flat on January 1, 2026, and owed more than Rs12.5 million to various lenders.

Police said Yaseen had two marriages, both with relatives, and had previously been accused of fraud in the Lyari area. "The financial angle is important in this case," an investigator said earlier.

A homicide case was registered under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code. However, SHO Rao Naeem said the charges will now be changed under court orders to attempted murder and suicide-related provisions.