Triple homicide: Sisters with polio were raped, murdered, says medical report

The girls were found in a shallow pool of water.

KARACHI:

The case of the three sisters found dead in Orangi Town has taken an ugly turn as the medical examination report confirmed that they were murdered. Two of them were even raped before they were killed. Investigators, however, have no idea who is behind the brutality.

The three girls were found dead in a trough, 2.5 foot deep, inside their house in Orangi Town on October 15. Fifteen-year-old Uzma, 12-year-old Sumaira were disabled as they suffered from polio while the youngest Nisha, 8, also bore signs of the condition. Their father, Sher Mohammad, runs a cattle farm within the rented house and is a milkman by profession. The family shifted to Karachi from Punjab about three years ago.

The Mominabad police suspected foul play since the bodies were first discovered as the trough was relatively shallow and none of the neighbours heard a noise when the girls allegedly drowned.

“It was clear that it was not an accident but a murder because it is not possible for all three to drown at the same time in the same 2.3-foot-deep pond,” DSP Tariq Malik told The Express Tribune. “From the first day we have taken this case seriously and are investigating it from every angle.”

At the estimated time of death, the victims’ father and youngest brother were asleep a short distance away from the pond.

Their mother, Aneesa, was visiting her parents in Gujrat with one of their brothers.

Initially, the police suspected that Sher Mohammad had killed his daughters while their mother was away as their medical condition made it difficult for them to get married and lead a full life.

However, they found no physical evidence to support their suspicions. The neighbours had nothing incriminating to say about the suspect and when Aneesa returned home, she too insisted her husband was innocent.

“The victims were drowned,” said the medico-legal officer who conducted the post-mortem, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital’s Dr Zakia. “It is with great regret that I must announce that of the three, two had been raped.”

The family, meanwhile, is still in the dark about the medical report and the police have them under observation. “The situation suggests that someone on the inside was involved, it is too early to say who that person is,” said an officer. “The truth is that we were taking this case very lightly but it turned out to be a typical murder case and we believe that we will be able to solve it soon.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2011.