Pakistani siblings, out of love, keep mother's body in freezer for over a decade
- Last updated: February 14, 2020 | 20:31
Picture used for illustrative purpose only.
Tariq Butt, Correspondent
The remains of the woman identified as Zakia Khatoon, a schoolteacher by profession who had died around 10 to 12 years ago, were discovered from a garbage dump.
Police arrested her brother Mehboob after he was detected in CCTV footage that showed him covering the remains in a blanket.
Police said he gave the blanket to his son and wife who drove off and dumped it outside the AGP office in Gulshan-e-Iqbal.
The exact year of Khatoon’s death is yet to be ascertained. However, police believe that she might have died 10 to 12 years ago.
One speculation about the discovery of the remains is that Khatoon’s son Qaiser Ayaz and daughter Shagufta Ayaz, alias Shabana, chose not to bury her after her death out of their love for her and kept the body in a freezer.
Both Qaiser and Shagufta are dead now. Police official Shahjahan Lashari said the son had died some four years ago and Shagufta passed away around 10 days ago.
He said that the siblings, however, were not living at that apartment as some time after Khatoon’s death, they had shifted to another place near Disco Bakery in Gulshan-e-Iqbal but they often came to visit the apartment.
Quoting the initial investigations, police said it appeared that after the recent death of Shagufta, Khatoon’s brother Mehboob visited the apartment a couple of days ago where he found the remains.
"My nephew and niece had cut off relations with everyone, including relatives, neighbours and friends. Even I did not have any idea that my sister had passed away. I asked them [Qaiser and Shagufta] several times about her but they never gave me a proper answer,” police quoted Mehboob, who is around 70 years, as saying.
According to police, Mehboob told them that when he went inside, he found the remains on a mattress. The SHO said the remains had been sent for medico-legal formalities and Mehboob was taken into custody. He added that the woman was around 50 years old when she died and her body was coated with chemicals before it was kept in the freezer.