Police discovered the 12-year-old skeletal remains of a woman from a garbage heap in Karachi's Gulshan-i-Iqbal area on Thursday.

According to SSP East Tanveer Alam, the remains were identified to be of a woman, Zakia Khatoon, who had died around 12 years ago. The official revealed that the woman's remains had been retrieved from a freezer at her apartment in Gulshan-i-Iqbal Block 11, before they were dumped in the garbage heap.

"The victim's remains had been preserved by her children, Shagufta and Ehsan, for the past 12 years out of love," he said.

He said that when their mother died, the siblings, instead of burying the body, kept it in a freezer. But, a few months ago, the two siblings also died, he added.

"After the death of the children, their estranged uncle, 70-year-old Mehboob, visited the apartment, where he found the remains. Mehboob then proceeded to dump the remains in a pile of garbage, where they were later discovered," he said.

He added that police have sent the body to the morgue for autopsy and are currently investigating the incident, adding that Mehboob has been taken into custody. He maintained that the deceased's apartment had remained empty after the death of her children.

However, according to Mehboob, he had found his sister's body on a mattress inside the home after visiting her apartment two days ago. He said that the two siblings had died separately around four months ago.

Speaking to DawnNewsTV, Mehboob denied knowing that his sister had passed away. He stated that he had asked the two siblings about his sister several times but the two did not meet people from the family or from the neighbourhood.