Husband arrested for contract killing of wife, daughter

GUJRANWALA: Police in Gujranwala have arrested a woman’s husband and a man accused of carrying out the killing of the woman and her three-year-old daughter in Rehmat Pura, located in the Garjakh police precincts, according to Gujranwala City Police Officer Dr Ghias Gul.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, the CPO said the bodies of Nida and her daughter, Dur-i-Adan, were found at their home on Monday. After being informed of the incident, police reached the scene and collected evidence. A case was then registered and a special investigation team was formed under City SP Hina Nek Bakhat along with two other senior officials to trace those involved, he said.

Dr Gul said police claimed to have traced and arrested the suspects within 24 hours of the incident. He said investigators detained Yasir, a neighbour of the victims, on suspicion during the inquiry. According to the CPO, the suspect confessed during interrogation that he had killed the woman at the direction of her husband, Ghulam Mustafa.

The CPO said the suspect also admitted to killing the couple’s three-year-old daughter after she witnessed him following the murder of her mother. According to Dr Gul, the suspect told investigators that Mustafa had promised him Rs250,000 and two pieces of gold jewellery in return for killing his wife because he wanted to marry again after her death.

Dr Gul further said the suspect confessed that he raped the woman before killing her with a knife. He told investigators that the child’s killing had not been part of the original arrangement, but that he killed her after she woke up and saw him as he was leaving the house, the CPO said.

Police say husband also confessed

The CPO said police also arrested Ghulam Mustafa, the victim’s husband, who, according to him, confessed to planning the murder.

He added that police had recovered the knife allegedly used in the crime, the gold jewellery, and the amount that had been paid to the suspect in advance. According to Dr Gul, the suspect had already sold the jewellery, which was later recovered from the goldsmith who had purchased it.

The case came to light after the woman and child were found dead in their house in the Rehmat Pura locality. Police said the investigation was launched immediately after the discovery, leading to the arrests and recoveries announced by the city police chief.