15 October 2004	Friday	29 Shaban 1425

KARACHI, Oct 14: Afreen Baig, a producer of TV plays, actress and signer, died in mysterious circumstances in her Clifton residence on Thursday.

Her corpse, found in a bathtub in her home, was first taken to a private hospital, where doctors confirmed her death.

Later, it was shifted to the JPMC, where a lady medico-legal officer conducted a post-mortem. The post-mortem report has been reserved, and the police suspect a foul play in the death.

A police official quoted the doctor as saying that marks of abrasion were found on Afreen's wrist and ankles, suggesting that her hands and legs had been tied together before she died. A slight abrasion was found on her neck also.

Family members said her funeral prayer would be held on Friday at the Sultan Masjid in Defence Housing Authority after Juma prayer. She would be buried in the Gizri-Defence graveyard.

A police official said Farooq Mengal, Afreen's husband, who was in Lahore, kept on ringing his wife. After he got no response, he asked his secretary, Noman, to go to his home and find out what had happened there.

The official said that Noman with the sister of Afreen's reached her residence in Phase-V, and found the main door locked. They had the door broken open, went inside and found Afreen floating upside down in the tub.

Afreen was rushed to the hospital, where doctors confirmed her death and advised them to take the body to the JPMC and inform the police as it was a police case. The police had collected all available evidence and would wait for the final cause of death in the post-mortem report to advance the investigation process, the official said.

Afreen had performed in several TV plays and also sang songs. Later, she established her own private production house. She had a son from her first husband. She married Farooq Mengal about one-and-a-half years back.