The story of lives torn apart…

This is the first instalment of an eight-part special feature, where we look back at some of the major stories of 2013 through the eyes of those who covered them.



                      The story: Murder mystery: Attack on twins stumps their family



The story behind the story

“Two brothers have been targeted in your neighbourhood. Do you know who attacked them?” a friend asked me a day after the incident occured. Such violence is routine in Lyari. Still, I visited the house situated in the Bank-Wali Gali of Bihar Colony in search of a ‘story.’

Upon arriving, I offered Fateha and, without giving much thought to the pain of the father of the 23-year-old identical twins Jamal and Haider Qadri, asked what happened.



“They [the killers] destroyed me. I lost my innocent son Jamal and Haider is now in critical condition,” Dr Abdul Ghafoor Qadri cried.

His tears continued to fall as he told me the details of the incident. I barely spent 30 minutes with him but by the time I left my notepad was wet with my own tears.

The next day, I visited the house again and met the mother, Ayesha Qadri. She was stricken with grief, unable to talk coherently.

“Jamal...Haider...my beloved sons...where are you both?” she cried as we went towards her room. All the family members were hugging each other. Everyone, both in the room and outside, was crying.

As a father of two sons, it was difficult for me to stay with the family for more than a few minutes.

I then went outside to the exact spot where the two college-going brothers were attacked, and that, too, in the presence of a police mobile. Everyone in Dr Qadri’s apartment and neighbourhood avoided commenting on the attack itself. The shopkeepers were eyewitnesses but still didn’t share anything. No one, including Dr Qadri, divulged any information.

Without considering the possibility of personal threats or being watched by ‘anyone,’ I kept visiting the unsafe neighbourhoods of Bihar Colony for a week. Finally, I met a policeman who was present when the incident happened. I was hopeful that he would share some information or ‘clues’ with me but he didn’t.

As I spoke to him, two boys, their faces veiled, stood on the other side of the road. An additional two stood near my motorcycle ominously. One of them, who I remember was wearing sun-glasses, even started pacing up and down near me. I could feel sweat trickle down my forehead and my legs were trembling. This may be my last day reporting for The Express Tribune, I thought. But, thankfully, a Rangers mobile arrived just in time and I could leave safely.

Dr Qadri’s family also left the neighbourhood that evening, never to return.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1^st, 2014.