Deadly dreams: Man slaughters his children in their sleep

Farooq butchered Saba,3, and Waheed, 5, claimed to have had a vision.

MULTAN:

A man killed two of his children in their sleep on Saturday evening. According to police officials, Mumtazabad Ram Kali resident Muhammad Farooq slaughtered his three-year-old daughter Saba and five-year-old son Waheed while the children were asleep. Farooq told police that he had seen a dream in which he had been ‘commanded by Allah to sacrifice his children in his name’.

The children’s mother came to know about the murder the next day when she found their decapitated bodies in their beds. “I immediately called police,” Mahnoor Bibi said.

A large number of people gathered outside Farooq’s house and protested.

“My son is mentally ill and we were trying to conceal his condition from our neighbours because there is discrimination.

He did not know what he was doing. This is a tragic incident but he is not to blame,” said Farooq’s mother Basheeran Bibi.

Police officials said that there were conflicting reports as to why Farooq had committed the murders. “His wife said he did it after seeing it in a dream but his mother insists that he did it because he was concerned about finances and didn’t think he could feed his children,” inspector Shahid said.

The bodies of the children have been shifted to Nishtar Hospital for an autopsy. Two of Farooq’s children, Akhtar and Sadaf, who were sleeping in another room survived. Police have arrested Farooq and registered a case.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2011.