Murder most foul: Young couple from Charsadda found killed

Police traced the man’s family. When they called them, they switched off their phone.

LAHORE: Police have traced the family of a man and his wife, who were found strangled at their house in Manga Mandi on Sunday. Police said the man’s family had switched off their cell phone.

Manga Mandi SHO Muhammad Ramazan told The Express Tribune on Monday that they had found the man’s identity card in his pocket and used it to trace his family. He said they had sent the bodies to a morgue but a post mortem examination will be conducted after the families of the deceased indentified them.

Police said Yasin, 24, and Nabila, 22, both residents of a village in Charsadda, had eloped and come to Lahore where they were living in a rented house. Yasin worked at a factory whose contractor Ehtisham told police that Yasin had approached him on November 11 looking for accommodation and work. Ehtisham said he had helped them get a house on rent and offered him work at the factory. A few days ago, Yasin had told Ehtisham that his cousin was going to visit him from Charsadda. Ehtisham told police that Yasin had asked him for some money to buy food for his cousin so he asked a shopkeeper to give Yasin food on credit. Then Yasin stopped coming to the factory, Ehtisham said. He tried to contact him several times but he did not answer his phone.



He said he had sent some workers from the factory to go check on them on Sunday. They found the couple strangled. Their bodies lay on two charpoys in their house. Manga Mandi police registered an FIR on Ehtisham’s complaint.

Saddar Investigation SP Muhammad Iqbal told The Express Tribune that when they contacted the man’s family, they switched off the phone.

“Usually when informed, families ask for details and rush to the police station. These people switched off their phone,” he said.

Iqbal said they were going to investigate the family’s possible involvement in the matter. “We have our doubts. They might also have gotten scared and switched their phone off.”

He said they would investigate the matter from all angles. “If their families do not show up in a few days, we will request the hospital to conduct a post mortem examination.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 25^th, 2014.