MIRPURKHAS: Death of a pregnant woman and her two minor children in a house fire incident in Wali Mohammad Mangrio village, Sindhri taluka, on Wednesday were suspected to be premeditated murders allegedly committed by the family’s head, according to an FIR.

Sindhri police officials said that Maryam Bheel, 40, and her children Hari Lal, 5, and Khushhal, 8, were burnt to death when fire engulfed several mud-thatched houses in the village.

A day after the incident, Gordhan Bheel, brother of the deceased woman, lodged a case with Sindhri police station accusing Wejho Bheel, husband of his sister, of subjecting his wife to severe torture on that fateful day after levelling on her accusations of infidelity. Wejho had deliberately set the house on fire with intention to kill his wife along with children, he claimed.

SHO Khuda Bux Rajhani said that the suspect had disappeared soon after the incident and police were conducting raids in different places to arrest him but had so far found no clue about him.

Meanwhile, an initial post mortem report of the victims said Maryam Bheel was pregnant at the time of her death and marks of torture were found on the body of her five-year-old son, Hari Lal.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2025