Gone too soon: Four family members killed by drunken 'gangsters'

The woman and her newly-wed daughter were allegedly gang raped before being shot.

KARACHI: A couple and their two sons were shot dead outside their house in Mauripur on Sunday. Witnesses and law enforcers claimed that gangsters were behind the tragic incident.

The deceased were identified as 45-year-old Muzaffar, his 40-year-old wife, and their sons, 10-year-old Sameer and 20-year-old Imran. The couple's daughter, 18-year-old M*, was also critically injured in the incident and undergoing treatment at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. The couple's other two daughters and a son, aged between five to seven years, remained safe.



Newly-wed M was visiting her parents' house for a few days when she faced the tragedy in the early hours of Sunday. "A group of armed gangsters entered their home. All of them were completely drunk. They first subjected M and her mother to gang rape. Later, they tried to take them away. As the women offered resistance, they opened fire and then shot the father and brothers when they attempted to intervene. M was also shot, but somehow managed to survive," the victims' relative, Muhammad Shahid, quoting M, told The Express Tribune.

The victims had moved to the newly rented two-room house about two months ago. Muzaffar was the only breadwinner of the family and used to run a pan shop in the area.

The area is considered a stronghold of gangsters affiliated with the Lyari gang war. "Yes, this is a stronghold of the Lyari gangsters but it is difficult to say whether the culprits were affiliated with Uzair Baloch or Baba Ladla," DSP Sohail Afzal told The Express Tribune.  "We are still unsure why they did it. Maybe they were just drunk and wanted to take the woman and her daughter to the beach for illicit activities," he speculated. The police have raided the gangsters' hideouts but no arrests have been made so far.

The officer said that the police had recorded M's statement but could not register an FIR on its basis as the doctors had advised the police that she was currently unfit. Her initial statement, however, suggested that there were at least six attackers.

Doctors who carried out the medico-legal examination at Civil Hospital Karachi told The Express Tribune that the victims were shot multiple times, mostly on their upper torso and had died after haemorrhaging. "Both the women were likely subjected to rape," said a doctor. "We have collected samples to send them to the laboratory for confirmation."

Meanwhile, scores of the victims' relatives and neighbours staged a protest by surrounding the Mauripur Police Station where they raised slogans against the gangsters as well as the police for their failure to arrest the culprits. "The police is equally responsible for the incident as they failed to bring the gangsters to justice." The protesters also demanded that strict action be taken against the area's police.
*Names changed to protect privacy

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2013.