SAHIWAL: Three minor siblings were found slaughtered at their home while their mother was found poisoned at Chak 14/5-L, tehsil Chichawatni.

Rescue 1122 said all children’s throats were cut with a grape hoe and they found them dead upon arrival. The rescuers shifted the woman to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, Chichawatni in critical condition.

The woman was identified as Rubina Kashif while her deceased children as Alisha (9), Sadia (6) and Furqan (3).

According to the first information report (FIR), registered by Kasowal police on the report of Rubina’s husband Kashif, Rubina herself had slaughtered her three children before taking poison to commit suicide.

The initial investigation said Kashif Javed and Rubina got married 13 years back and they had four children. Rubina had been living with her in-laws since her marriage. Family sources claimed that Rubina was suffering mental issues because of her unhappy domestic life. There were also incidents of domestic violence involving her husband.

On Wednesday night, Kashif went to take his father from the village bus stop. His wife, Rubina, and three children were asleep in one room while the other family members slept in grandmother’s room.

Kashif said when he returned at 10pm, he saw the bodies of his children while Rubina was sitting along them in critical condition. Police and Rescue 1122 were called. At first, police thought some unidentified men had killed the children and tried to murder their mother. But later it was Rubina who killed her children and took poison. Her own statement is not known yet as she is hospitalised.

Kashif told the media that his eldest daughter survived because she was sleeping with her grandmother in another room. Kasowal police registered a murder cases against Rubina Kashif on her husband Kashif Javed’s complaint.

ASP Tariq Mahmood told Dawn the case was being investigated from different angles, including the mental issues of the mother, domestic violence from her husband and her fights with her in-laws and that it could be a case of revenge.

The ASP said Rubina was not in a position to record her statement yet.

Regional Police Officer Mahboob Rasheed has taken notice of the incident and asked the Sahiwal DPO to submit a report at the earliest.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2024