Initially, they were positive that, once the girls’ mother, Aneesa Bibi, returned from her hometown, she would file a statement implicating her husband, Sher Mohammad, and the case would be settled. However, Aneesa opted to defend her husband, taking the investigation back to square one. Now, she too is a suspect in what the police are certain is a murder case. The chemical examination report is due in two weeks and, if the girls’ test positive for poison or drugs, the police will have something to go on.
The three sisters were found dead in a pond, 2.5 feet deep, inside their house in Orangi Town on Saturday.
Investigators say that they have recorded the statements of at least seven people including the victims’ father, mother, brother, other relatives and neighbours but none of the statements threw anyone in the family, particularly Sher Mohammad, under suspicion.
“We thought the mother’s statement would help us probe the case but that didn’t happen,” DSP Tariq Malik told The Express Tribune. “We are trying to create a rift between the victims’ parents in the hope that they will start talking.”
The officer quoted Aneesa as saying her husband is innocent and was not involved in the murders.
The victims’ brother also told the police that he was asleep when the incident took place while the neighbours and relatives did not seem to have noticed any dispute among the parents, especially over the disability of their daughters.
The police had initially suspected only the father as the mother was out of town. After recording Aneesa’s statement defending their prime suspect, however, they feel she is involved too. DSP Malik said that it appears that the parents planned and executed the murder carefully which is why Aneesa was away when they were killed.
“It appears that it was the father who killed (two of) them because of their affliction with polio,” said the DSP. “However there are two possible reasons for killing the third girl. Firstly, she too had slight symptoms of polio. It is also possible that she saw them murdering the other two.”
The initial examination report confirmed that the girls drowned to death but the final report, with chemical tests, will be much more helpful. Police hope to know more in the next few days.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 24th, 2011.
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You know what? I now feel that that mother and father don't believe in islam or what the qur'an says at all. They don't believe in life after death and they don't believe in hell. All they believe in is what their fellow community must think of them. (oh, the horrors!). They also think like animals, in that killing anything of the heard that appears weaker will keep the herd strong. They also didn't like buying food for someone who might not be able to pay them back.... Stingy at heart, and didn't believe in Allah or the last day--looked like muslims only because the community was muslims.
Golda Meir once said: there will be peace in the Middle East when muslims put their children ahead of islam. Like all civilized people, we can only imagine what type of thought process goes on in your head when murdering your children to ensure some sort of "honor" is seen as a better option than loving and supporting them.
I am sure that there is a special place in hell for people who murder their own family members. I'll have to look up Dante' and see what his description is. I wonder if that mother and father have even given a thought to their life after their death.