KARACHI: In a shocking and gruesome incident, a man brutally killed his wife and three minor daughters and tried to commit suicide, but survived, in his rented Malir locality home on Tuesday, police said.

The suspect, identified as Fawwad, is currently under treatment at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where he regained consciousness after surgery and gave an initial statement to police.

The murders sent shock waves through the neighbourhood and the country as news channels flashed the news about the gory incident on TV screens.

The victims were identified as Huma, 40, her three minor daughters — Neha, 16, Fatima, 12, and Nimra, 10.

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Top authorities, including the chief minister and the governor, quickly took notices of the incident and sought detailed reports from officials.

Korangi SSP (investigation) Abraiz Ali Abbasi said that at around 3pm 42-year-old Fawwad murdered his wife and three daughters and also tried to commit suicide in his top floor house in Shamsi Society within the remit of the Al-Falah police station.

The mother and suspect brother’s wife told the police that they lived at the ground floor and heard screams from the upper floor of the house in the afternoon. They quickly went upstairs and somehow managed to open the door and saw the bodies and injured Fawwad in separate rooms.

The SSP said the mother and suspect’s sister-in-law told the police that the couple might have had some friction like most couples, but there was “no serious issue” between them.

They didn’t hear any cries of the three children, he added.

The police were waiting for doctors reports to ascertain as to whether the victims had been drugged before the murder.

The bodies of the victims were taken to the JPMC to fulfil medico-legal formalities. The police’s forensic team moved to the crime scene and collected evidence.

The murder weapon, a knife, has been found by investigators and further investigation is under way.

Korangi SSP Sajid Amir Sadozai told reporters that Fawwad worked at a spice factory as a salesman and returned home in the morning. Having quarrels with his wife was a ‘routine’ matter at home, he added.

SSP Abbasi said that there might be two possible motives for the gruesome murders; financial or family dispute.

Fawad previously worked as a salesman in another packaged spices factory, but around 10-20 days ago he switched to a different company. He also worked as an ‘investor’ in the food industry and recently had suffered some financial losses, he said.

Apart from possible financial aspect, other reason may be his unhappy family life as the couple often quarrelled with each other over ‘mundane’ matters. Fawwad’s mother was upset over their quarrels.

When he returned home, he reportedly saw his mother ‘weeping’, which might have triggered another quarrel between the couple, the police said quoting the family sources as saying.

Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed opined that it appeared that the wife had put up resistance as there were ‘deep defence marks’ on her both hands. However, there were no such injuries on the bodies of the teenage daughters.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2022