KARACHI, Jan 19: An elderly woman was burnt to death inside her Korangi house on Wednesday, police and witnesses said. They said neighbours of the woman, Zaib-un-Nisa, saw thick smoke billowing out of her one-room house in Koran gi’s Sector 51-A. The neighbours entered the house and found the woman’s charred body.

“There was a thick layer of smoke when we entered the house. Her hands and legs were tied to the bed with rope,” said Zaman Town SHO Inspector Atif Shah. “The body was moved to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for a post-mortem examination.” He said that initial findings of the post-mortem examination suggested that the woman’s wrists and legs were forcibly tied. He said that a close look at the crime-scene also showed that the victim, who was in her late 60s, had offered resistance before she was overpowered.

The area SHO said that it appeared that more than one person was involved in the incident. The face and upper torso of the victim was completely burnt. But her family members and the neighbours had somehow recognised her, he added.

The incident remained a mystery for investigators, who believed that the brutal murder was apparently an outcome of some personal enmity. They ruled out the possibility of a robbery attempt in view of the victim’s poor financial condition.

“She was a widow and had been living alone in the rented house for the last few years,” said Korangi SP Usman Ghani. “She had three sons and a daughter and all of them live separately with their families.”