HYDERABAD: An eight-year-old girl who had gone missing along with her 10-year-old brother on Monday was found murdered late on Wednesday night. The boy was found critically injured on Tuesday and succumbed to the injuries during treatment a little later.

The siblings, Qadir Bux and Rukhsana, belonging to the Siyal community, had left their home in the GOR Colony to buy something but did not return home till late in the evening. Their family mounted a search for them but in vain. The police found Qadir Bux lying critically injured at a place within the limits of the Kohsar area on Tuesday and took him to the Hyderabad Civil Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

On Wednesday night, Rukhsana Siyal was also found dead inside an under-construction bungalow of a private housing scheme in Latifabad Unit No. 10. Her body was handed over to the heirs after completion of legal formalities at Shah Bhitai Hospital and then at the Liaquat University Hospital (LUH), city branch.

Suspect held after 10-year-old boy and his eight-year-old sister were butchered

A relative of the siblings was quoted as saying that the dying boy had shared some facts with the family.

“Qadir Bux disclosed that [the suspect] had taken him and Rukhsana to a place on his motorcycle on the pretext of buying them some items. He dropped Qadir Bux in the airport area and told him to wait there until he got back with Rukhsana. However Qadir insisted on accompanying them upon which [the suspect] injured him with a knife and left,” Mashooq Siyal, a nephew of Intizar (Qadir’s father) told Dawn on Thursday. He said the suspect was later taken into custody.

Mashooq Siyal was participating in the protest rally held by the bereaved family and residents of their neighbourhood. Rukhsana’s coffin was placed in front of the protesters, who marched through the streets and then held a sit-in outside the local press club.

According to Mashooq Siyal, the suspect has been living in the neighbourhood for eight to 10 years.

Intezar Siyal said: “I never suspected that [he could] commit such a heinous crime”.

The post-mortem examination of the deceased siblings was performed by medico-legal officers of Shah Bhitai Hospital, Latifabad, at LUH’s city branch. Initial findings of the post-mortem examination were not immediately available.

Lawyers Zulqarnain Talpur and Ambreen Siyal helped Intizar Siyal in getting his son’s murder case registered. Advocate Zulqar­nain said he had approached the Airport police station for the registration of the FIR but they argued that since the boy had gone missing within the GOR police station area, the case should be lodged there. “I then approached the Hyderabad DIG after which the GOR police registered an FIR vide crime No. 50/19 on Wednesday.”

Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2019