RAWALPINDI: A man, who allegedly murdered his sister over a property dispute, was detained by the Race Course police on the complaint of his mother, police said on Sunday.

Earlier, the woman’s death was declared “natural” but after her mother revealed the real story to the police, the deceased’s brother was arrested on murder charges, while his wife, mother-in-law and brother-in-law were also booked on the charges of instigating him to murder.

Anwar Jan, widow of Mohammad Shabbir, lodged a first information report (FIR) with police saying that she had bought a double-storey house in Dhoke Syedan eight years ago. She said her daughter Fahmeeda Bibi, who had been divorced, lived on the ground floor of the house as she had no children, whereas her son lived with his wife in the second portion of the house.

She said her son had been asking her to transfer ownership of the house under his name but she did not do so.

She said she came back from the United Kingdom on April 11, 2023 and was staying at her other son’s house when her elder son (the one who lived in the same house as the deceased) came to visit her.

Upon inquiry about her daughter Fahmeeda, she said, he told her that she was not at home. She got suspicious as Fahmeeda had not been responding to her calls as well.

Later, she said she was informed by her elder daughter Khadija that Fahmeeda had passed away in her house.

She said immediately after she was informed about the death of her daughter, Khadija and her other brother Yaqoob rushed to Fahmeeda’s house. They confirmed to their mother that Fahmeeda had died.

“It appeared that she did not die today, she seems to have been killed two to three days ago,” she said in the FIR, adding that her son (suspect) called the police himself and told them that his sister had been killed.

She said on May 5, 2023 when all family members were at home, she asked her son to reveal the truth and he confessed that he had strangled his sister on April 8 and then dragged her body inside the house.

While quoting her son, she said he could not dispose of his sister’s body and later started telling everyone that she had died and called police.

She claimed that she was sure that her son on the instigation of his wife, mother-in-law and brother-in-law had murdered her daughter.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2023