LAHORE: The Kahna police arrested a man on charge of drowning his four minor children into Lilyani (Mustafabad) canal on Tuesday.

The initial investigation found that the suspect, Azeem, took his children to the canal on the pretext of a picnic where he allegedly pushed them into the canal. He later misled the police and other relatives by saying that his children had been kidnapped by some unidentified suspects.

The children were identified as Ghulam Sabir (12), Samia (9), Nabiha (5), and Ayesha (2).

The police and Rescue 1122 experts made all-out efforts for hours but could not find the bodies of the victims in the canal water.

The DIGs of operations and investigation wings, Ali Nasir Rizvi and Imran Kishwar, visited the crime scene and supervised the efforts to recover the bodies.

A police official said the police experts were interrogating the suspect, a resident of Panju village near Kahna, and they were investigating the matter to find out why he had committed the heinous crime against his own children. He said Azeem was doing two jobs in the factories and was earning approximately Rs150,000 that ruled out the possibility of financial constraints being the cause of murders.

About the modus operandi of the crime, the official said Azeem had taken his children to the canal, telling his wife that he was taking their kids for a picnic. As he reached there, he lined up his kids to take their pictures with his mobile phone and then suddenly pushed them into the canal.

A few moments later, all the children disappeared deep into the water, the official said, adding that the suspect later took up the matter with the police, alleging that his children had been kidnapped. The suspect also warned the police of blocking the road if his children were not recovered. As the police experts questioned Azeem about the abduction of his kids, they noticed that the suspect was frequently changing statements. Police took him into custody, interrogated him and he revealed the truth. The police official said further investigation was underway.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2023