KASUR: The city police claimed on Sunday to have sent a couple behind the bars for killing their minor niece about five months ago to use her body for black magic.

Police said Sifat Elahi was a bookie and in his lust for pelf wanted ‘magic powers’ to know specific numbers to bet on cricket matches. He contacted a man with professed knowledge of the occult who advised him (Sifat) to perform certain magic on the body of an innocent child.

It was on March 18 last, police said, Sifat and his wife kidnapped seven-year-old Ayesha, daughter of Muhammad Asad (brother of Sifat), and strangled her. The family found the body in front of their house on March 22. The incident sparked protest in and around Mohallah Sirki Bandha and residents gathered at National Bank Chowk and staged a protest demonstration demanding arrest of the killers.

The mob chanted slogans against police and even attacked a team of law enforcers. Meanwhile, a group of youngsters caught suspect Javed at Ghala Mandi and tried to set him ablaze. The police intervention saved the suspect.

The sniffers police used led them to the house of Javed who was a labourer residing in a rented house. Police got wind of the situation when Sifat gave his share of the property to Ayesha’s father. On suspicion, police arrested Sifat and his wife who confessed to killing the girl for black magic and sent them behind bars.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2015

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