KARACHI: A 40-year-old man committed suicide by jumping off the fourth floor of his apartment building in Shadman Town on Saturday allegedly after hammering his eight-year-old daughter to death and leaving his wife and 10-year-old son badly injured, police said.

The chilling episode in the densely populated locality was reported early in the morning and remained a mystery even after several hours, but by the evening the investigators found reasons to suspect the deceased man was behind the tragedy.

“A 40-year-old man, Mohammad Kashif, and his eight-year-old daughter were found dead,” said an official at the Sir Syed Town police station. “His 34-year-old wife, Sofia, and 10-year-old son Ayan were found almost unconscious with multiple wounds on their bodies. Both the injured were shifted to hospital for treatment where they are said to be in a stable condition. The bodies were moved to hospital for medico-legal formalities as well.”

Police say child was hammered to death by the father

Another official associated with the investigation arm of the police station said that the police found Kashif’s body in the compound of the apartment while his daughter’s was lying in their fourth-floor apartment. In the other room of the apartment, he said, the woman and his son were lying wounded in a pool of blood. The police also found the hammer and pieces of rope.

“The watchman of the apartment said that he heard the woman and children screaming while he was busy in his regular work. Then within a few seconds, Kashif was seen running in the corridor of the apartment trying to go up to the rooftop of the building,” he said. “Then he saw him jumping off the top floor of the building. A resident of the building told the investigators that Kashif had asked for his mobile phone to make calls to his relatives for help saying that his wife and children were trapped in the room and the door was locked.”

The police questioned neighbours, talked to the victims’ relatives and checked the relevant history of Kashif and his family but could not find any clue to the crime. The police also ruled out the possibility of involvement of any other individual or group in the incident. After connecting the dots and gathering initial evidence, the investigators appeared convinced about the future course of their probe.

“It’s quite definite now that Kashif tried to kill his family and then killed himself by jumping off the building’s top floor,” said SSP Central Rao Arif Aslam. “Fortunately, his wife and son survived. Autopsy reports of the bodies and statement of Kashif’s wife would be crucial and we are waiting for her to get mentally and physically stable before sharing the details. So far we have a suspect in the case and now we are looking [for] the motive or reason for the incident.”

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2019