KARACHI: A 22-year-old woman and her infant son died after falling from their eighth floor apartment’s balcony in Delhi Colony on Wednesday.

Police suspect that the two were allegedly pushed off the balcony by the in-laws of the woman.

The incident, which was first presented as a case of suicide by the victim’s in-laws, triggered fear in the densely-populated neighbourhood.

Frere SHO Rana Abdul Latif told Dawn that three-month-old Abdul Hadi died on the spot while his mother, Ramsha, 22, succumbed to wounds during treatment at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

“It appears to be a double murder case of mother and son,” revealed Karachi South SSP Sarfraz Nawaz Shaikh.

The police officer said the woman had contracted free-will marriage with Rizwan Ahmed about one-and-a-half years ago which was not accepted by her husband’s family.

After marriage, she moved to Dubai where she lived with her husband. However, some five to six months ago, she came back and started living with her parents.

When she gave birth to a baby boy, her husband returned from Dubai and persuaded her to live with his family in Delhi Colony.

The SSP said the woman’s parents were insisting that it was a double murder case. Besides, police investigators have found some “evidence” which corroborated the stance of the woman’s parents.

Ms Ramsha had allegedly told the women who gathered around her after the fall that she was pushed off by her mother-in-law.

According to the police a case was lodged late on Wednesday night.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2018