Abeera murder case: Main suspect confesses to poisoning model

Three suspects have been arrested officially with regard to the murder of Abeera

The main suspect in the Abeera murder case,  Izma Rao alias Tooba, has confessed to killing the Lahore-based model by poisoning her yoghurt. Initial forensic reports of the 20-year-old also confirmed the cause of death as poisoning. 

SSP Investigations Rana Ayaz Saleem told The Express Tribune that Tooba's friend Farooqur Rehman and his friend Zeeshan were also involved in the murder. "Tooba had asked Zeeshan to provide her with the poison," he said.


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All three of the suspects have officially been arrested, officials confirmed.

Earlier, a post-mortem report showed that it was likely that she was suffocated.

According to reports, Tooba had wanted to have her ex-husband, Baber Butt, killed and had asked for Abeera’s help in doing so. Her alleged refusal lead to Tooba killing Abeera.

Baber and Tooba were married seven years ago and divorced two years ago. Tooba has claimed that Baber and Yousuf Khoker –a cameraman whom she is thought to have murdered several months ago as well -- were responsible for the death of their two-month-old daughter.

Tooba claimed that Butt had refused the treatment of their two-month-old who had fallen ill which lead to her death. She further claimed that Butt had asked her to accompany him to a party a day after their daughter passed away.

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The interrogation unfolded that Tooba wanted her ex-husband dead as he had supplied Khoker with some inappropriate pictures of her which would have a profound impact on her reputation. This was also the alleged reason for Tooba murdering the cameraman.

Officials, after the interrogation, also found that Tooba had filed a complaint against Butt for raping her after which he agreed to marry her.

According to the police, Abeera wanted to become a model and her passion led her to make-up artist and dance event manager Tooba to help her make a career in the modeling industry.

SP Iqbal Town SP Dr Muhammad Iqbal Khan told The Express Tribune earlier that police buried the girl after autopsy and said that “We found poisonous substances – arsenic and nitrate- from Tooba’s house which the accused said Farooq had with him on the day Abeera was killed."