FAISALABAD, March 20: Post-mortem reports of the three sisters found dead at their house in Naseerabad on Saturday show that the women were strangulated. The reports belie the claims of their heirs that they died mysteriously.

Sources citing post-mortem reports told Dawn Azra, 16, Razia, 19, and Rubina Kausar, 24, daughters of flower vendor Bashir Ahmad, were strangled.

Sources said post-mortem showed that one of the deceased girls had marks of torture on her face. Signs of torture on the heads all the three were also found, they added.

Earlier, their heirs said they were reciting the Holy Quran when they felt uneasy. They said a doctor was called in, but they died one by one before they could be treated. Sources said that the heirs concocted the story on the orders of the police. They said police wanted to tone down the incident and had asked the heirs not to speak to any reporter.

Bashir said the marriages of Azra and Razia were to be held next month.

Rubina was married but had been living with her parents for the last one year owing to a reported tussle with her husband.

Jinnah Town Police Officer Sarfraz Falki could not be approached for comments.

A police officer requesting anonymity said a case had been registered with the Ghulam Mohammad Abad police station and Sarfraz Ahmed, brother of girls, would be booked for triple murder. He confirmed the boy had been arrested. Factors leading to the killings had yet to be ascertained, he added.