Mass suicides: head of family, son arrested as plot unravels

Police say Iqbal backed out after 'suicide' of his wife, daughter, daughter-in-law

KARACHI:

The case of discovering the bodies of three women from a flat in Gulshan-e-Iqbal has taken a new turn. Police have formally arrested the head of the family and his son on charges of murdering the women.

Iqbal and his family had allegedly mutually agreed to commit mass suicide, but the final suicide was to be carried out by Iqbal himself, however, he became afraid of death.

According to police, the five-member family of Iqbal had planned the entire sequence of suicides in advance. The first death was that of Iqbal's daughter-in-law, Maha. In her suicide note, Maha addressed her brothers, apologised for marrying against their wishes out of love, and added a will that she and Yaseen should be buried side by side.

PS Gulshan-e-Iqbal SHO Rao Naeem Rajput stated that the entire mass suicide plan was devised by Iqbal, who, after the deaths of his wife, daughter, and daughter-in-law, gave his son Yaseen a juice laced with sleeping pills. Iqbal had written four letters. In one letter, he wrote the names and mobile numbers of his brothers and sisters, instructing that these relatives should be contacted for the burials after his death.

The second letter was addressed to the administration of Harmain Residency, mentioning outstanding dues and explaining which of his belongings should be sold to repay which debts.

The third letter was written to his relatives, in which he complained that they did not help him during his difficult times.

In the fourth letter, Iqbal drew markings of five graves and indicated which grave belonged to which family member.

From the flat, police recovered rat poison (liquid form) and more than a dozen strips of sleeping pills used in the killings and suicides.

According to SHO Naeem, an FIR had initially been registered under murder charges on behalf of the police, but now these sections will be changed. Under court orders, the case will now be registered under attempted murder and suicide-related provisions.