HYDERABAD, Jan 16: A woman and her four children, two girls and two boys, were found murdered in the Sarfaraz colony on Sunday. They were identified as Naseem, wife of Saindad, five-year-old Guddu, seven-year-old Asiya , eight-year-old Ali and Fozia alias Rukhsana, 14.

Two daughters of the deceased, Safia, 20, and Saima, 13, are missing. The incident happened in a one-room house which was rented to a policeman. There was no other entrance to the two-storey building except a separate door for the upper storey residence of the landlord, Raees Ahmed.

Residents of the area said they came to know about the incident only after Raees Ahmed's wife went to Naseem to inform her about a phone call made by Inayat, an employee of the bus service.

She tried to wake them up but was perturbed when she found no movement in the house. She informed her husband and residents of the locality. The Market police arrived and shifted the bodies to the civil hospital for autopsy.

The examination of the bodies revealed that their throats were slit with a sharp-edged weapon with no other marks on the body. MLO Dr Saleem Shah said the deceased might had been given some intoxicant before being slaughtered.

Inayat, an acquaintance of Naseem's husband, had informed her to come to the bus stand to leave for Larkana as planned. He is being interrogated by the police. Inayat also used to deliver money sent by Saindad from Larkana for his family in Hyderabad.

He said Naseem was the second wife of Saindad. His first wife was a sister of Naseem. Residents of the area told Dawn that Naseem had no interaction with neighbours though she lived there for a year.

The landlord's son, Danish, said they had asked them to vacate the house as they were not receiving rent from them. He said the family was scheduled to leave for Larkana.

He said Saindad had paid a few visits since renting the house. In the rent agreement the name of the tenant is written Din Mohammad whereas on the NIC it is Saindad. The bodies were lying in the civil hospital mortuary. The deceased's husband was informed about the incident and he was scheduled to arrive sometime in the night.