RAWALPINDI: Neighbours were horrified when a young woman was found hanging from the ceiling and her two little daughters lying below shot through their heads in their house in Tahli Mori locality of the city on Sunday, leaving many mystified whether it was a case of murder or murder-suicide.

Inspector Asghar Goraya said the woman’s husband, Malik Pervez alias Malik Naeem, reported to the area police that he discovered the bodies on entering the house at 11:30am after spending the previous night at his brother’s place.

Preliminary police investigation suggested that Rubina Naeem, 30, and her daughters Rida, 9, and Maimoona, 6, had been dead for 10 to 12 hours before their bodies were recovered.

Police suspect it to be a case of a distraught mother first shooting her children then committing suicide.

“Apparently, the tragic incident happened over the husband’s second marriage,” Inspector Goray told Dawn.

But Rubina’s mother, Sabiha Sultan, accused her son-in-law Malik Naeem, and his sister, of killing her daughter and granddaughters.

“Had the police acted on our complaint that Naeem had been torturing Rubina, she and my granddaughter would not have been killed,” the grieving grandmother told reporters.

Inspector Goraya, who took up his post in the Civil Lines precinct only a few months back, confirmed that the family had lodged such a complaint.

“Yes, a complaint was lodged with the police about a year ago, but I cannot say what (action) followed,” he said, adding, “However the second marriage had been an issue between the couple for some time.”

Perhaps because of that the police have detained Malik Naeem as a suspect.

Originally belonging to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the tragedy-stricken family moved to Rawalpindi from Kohat a couple of years ago.

Meanwhile, the bodies of the mother and her daughters have been removed to the District Headquarters Hospital for postmortem and the police have recorded the statement of Khurshid Khan, a brother of deceased Rubina.

“Police will investigate whether it is a triple murder case or a murder-suicide. We will be looking into all aspects of the case from all angles,” Inspector Goraya assured.

Police investigators have collected a pistol and bullet casings found at the scene of tragedy.

One bullet was found stuck in the pistol they believe to be the murder weapon.

No “suicide note” was found at the scene.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2014