Quadruple homicide suspect sent on five-day police remand

A judicial magistrate on Monday granted a five-day police remand of a suspect arrested in connection with the murders of four women in a Lyari flat.

The suspect, Muhammad Bilal, was arrested after the bodies of his 60-year-old mother Shamshad Farooq, 21-old sister Madiha Farooq, 20-year-old sister-in-law Ayesha Sameer, and 12-year-old niece Alina Razzak were found with their throats slit in separate rooms of the flat near Bantwa Street within the jurisdiction of the Baghdadi police station on the night of October 18.

The investigation officer (IO), Saeed Thaheem, produced the detained man before Judicial Magistrate Kulsoom Sahito and requested his 14-day physical remand in police custody for interrogation.

The IO stated that during the initial interrogation, the suspect had admitted to his involvement in the murders of his four family members. He said the suspect was required to be interrogated further about the quadruple homicide.

During the hearing, the magistrate asked the suspect why he killed his four family members, to which he replied that they had troubled him. When asked why he did not leave the house instead, Bilal said he only intended to kill his sister for making videos but ended up killing everyone to eliminate evidence.

The magistrate remanded the suspect in police custody for five days with a direction to the IO to produce him on completion of his remand. An FIR has been registered under the sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of Muhammad Farooq, head of the family.

The complainant stated that he lived with his 60-year-old wife Shamshad, divorced daughter Madiha, son Sameer Ali, his wife Ayesha, their three-month-old daughter and his 12-year-old another granddaughter Aleena.

He explained that Bilal did not live in their house. He added that on the night of October 18, his another daughter Sameena had visited the house, and he was on his way to drop her off at Jubilee when she informed him that her brother Bilal was also at the house.

When they reached Nawab Khanji Road, their car broke down. Sameer, who was also with Farooq, told his father to go home, saying that he would stay there. “When I reached home at around 3:15am [on October 19] and knocked on the door, no one answered,” said Farooq. “I used my key to unlock the door, and when I entered, I saw Madiha lying in a pool of blood.”

He shouted for help and called his neighbour Hafeez, and also Sameer, asking him to return home immediately. He said Hafeez and Sameer arrived soon after. “Ayesha was also lying in a pool of blood, and her daughter was found under the bed. In the TV lounge, Shamshad was lying lifeless, and in the courtyard, Aleena was found in a similar state. All four of them had their throats slit with sharp objects.”