KARACHI: Five members of a family were found stabbed to death in their home in Askari III housing scheme, near the Cantt railway station, in mysterious circumstances on Wednesday.
Their bodies were discovered on Wednesday afternoon, when some family members arrived there after repeated calls to them on their cellphones went unanswered, police said.
The victims were identified as Arif Yousuf, 68, his wife Zainab Bibi, 60, their son Zubair Arif, 30, his wife Aliya, 30, and their daughter Rida, 14.
The bodies were taken to the nearby Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal formalities.
The bodies of the four adults were found in a room on the ground floor while Rida’s body was discovered in her room on the first floor. The victims were not trussed up, said SSP-South Naeem Shaikh.
“Although nothing can be ruled out at this stage, robbery does not seem likely as the cellphones, laptop and other valuables were present in the house,” said the SSP.
The bodies were discovered when the driver and a servant called the couple’s son-in-law, Umar Ahsan, to tell him that they had been waiting outside the house since morning and no one was opening the gate.
When Mr Ahsan and his wife reached the house and found the bodies, they called the police helpline.
Medico-legal officials at the JPMC said the bodies bore several stab wounds up to six inches deep. Unlike the elderly couple, their son Zubair and his wife seemed to have offered resistance as they had injuries on their hands as well and they had more stab wounds than the others, doctors observed.
Although the preliminary search of the house did not yield the murder weapon, the SSP-South said that the search was still not over as it was being done in phases and once it was completed, the house would be sealed.
“We have taken samples from the edible items present in the house and sent them to the chemical lab for testing,” the SSP added.
According to initial information, Mr Yousuf had a small garment factory in New Karachi that closed down some years ago, and his son Zubair ran a call centre which had also ceased to function. Zubair’s wife Aliya taught at a private school in Clifton.
Muhammad Rauf, who identified himself as Zubair’s nephew, told reporters outside the house that his maternal uncle and aunt were a very happy family, who enjoyed cordial relations with everyone. “I can’t think of any reason why anyone would kill them,” he said. “We had talked last night on the phone, and today at around 12.30pm a relative of ours called us to give us this horrific news.”
Police registered an FIR (62/2012) under Sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code on a complaint of Umar Ahsan against unknown persons at the Saddar police station.
The two family servants, a boy named Liaquat and driver Bahadur Khan, have also been taken into custody and are being questioned by the police.
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