Father strangles three daughters in Punjab town

Police officials say the victims were aged between four and seven, and the father was on anti-depressants

FAISALABAD: A man murdered his three young daughters on Sunday in Chak No113-GB Phalahi town, near Faisalabad, police said Monday.

"Irshad Muhammad, a resident of Chak Jumra strangled his three daughters, two sets of twins, late Sunday night," local police official Ghulam Shabir told AFP.

He said the victims were identified as seven-year-old twins Eman Fatima and Chashman Fatima, and five-year-old Fiza.

"The father was on anti-depressants," Shabir said, adding that the mother had taken two of her children to a wedding in a neighbouring town and left the three girls with their father.

When the mother returned the next day she found the three children lying in bed dead with their father no where to be found.

Zaheer Ahmed, the investigating officer, said they found rope marks on the girls' necks.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Monday took notice of the murders and gave the police 48 hours to apprehend the culprit.

District Coordination Officer (DCO) Noorul Amin Mengal and City Police Officer (CPO) Afzaal Kausar visited the family of the deceased girls and assured them that the accused would be brought to justice.

The DCO announced Rs500,000 in financial assistance to the mother and assured her that she will be given a government job to help her take care of her other children.

A team headed by SP Madina Town Malik Jameel Jafar, and including DSP Nishat Abad Osaf Safdar Wahla and SHO Chak Jhumra Inspector Ghulam Shabbir has been constituted to arrest the accused within 48 hours.

Chak Jhumra police has registered a case under section 302 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) vide FIR No347/15 on the complaint of Abdus Sattar, the maternal grandfather of the girls.