HYDERABAD: Police are said to have recovered the weapon believed to have been used in the alleged murder of a 40-year-old mother of five, Daya Bheel.

The widow was found dead with severed head and cuts on her sensitive organs. Her relatives had found the body dumped in mustard fields within the village during a search, mounted after she went missing while returning home on that day.

Initial probe has made police investigators to think over involvement of some sorcerers in the ghastly act.

A police team from Hyderabad was also said to be visiting Sanghar to collect samples of suspects for DNA examination. The recovered weapon of offence — a sickle — would be sent to the Sindh health department’s laboratory for an examination to ascertain whether it was used in the woman’s murder. No one has so far owned the sickle. A chaddar was also found lying at the scene of offence. The exact number of samples collected by the Hyderabad police could not be confirmed. The examination could make investigators know whether the sikle and chaddar had marks of sweating.

“The sorcerers are being questioned from time to time. Daya Bheel’s relatives claimed that her husband also died following a matter involving a sorcerer”, said a police official. He said no one was officially arrested but suspects were being grilled to seek their answers to important queries.

Their statements were being corroborated with the call data records (CDRs) of the phone used by the deceased and sorcerers. One of the sorcerers was identified as Roopo Bheel who, police believed, was in touch with her over mobile phone.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2023