Man kills 11-month-old daughter over missing soap bar

The accused, Imran, confessed to the crime while in police custody

KARACHI: A 35-year-old man, Imran, is behind bars after being accused of killing his eleven-month-old daughter, Mahnoor, at their home in Sector 4B in Surjani Town.

The incident was highlighted when Mahnoor's mother began shouting and screaming and neighbours gathered at their home, finding the infant dead. The body was taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, after which the neighbours informed the police, who subsequently arrested the father.



Initially, the accused, who is a labourer, tried to defend himself by accusing his wife of the crime. "My wife is a psychiatric patient and I found my daughter dead when I returned home from work," claimed Imran from behind bars. "My wife killed her."



Later, however, he admitted to the crime. "I got angry when I did not find soap in the bathroom while I was bathing," he admitted. "I came out of the bathroom and started beating my wife and daughter. I did not have any intention to kill her. It was a mistake."

The victim's mother, Samreen, who married Imran a couple of years ago, accused her husband of routine abuse and said a fight had broken out between them over the birth of their daughter. "He [Imran] wanted a son instead of a daughter," she claimed.

"We had been living happily but ever since Mahnoor was born, our lives became disturbed and family disputes had become a routine matter," she alleged.



The police have registered a case against Imran on behalf of his wife. An FIR, No 620/15, under Section 302 (murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code was registered against the accused at the Surjani police station. "The case is straighforward as the accused admitted to the crime," said SHO Imtiaz Jut. "The initial postmortem report also suggests that the little girl bore marks of torture," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 23^rd,  2015.