October 21, 2024
By Shaukat Korai
KARACHI
A magistrate on Monday, October 21, granted police five-day remand of one Muhammad Bilal Kutchi, who stands accused of murdering four female relatives, including one minor girl, in Karachi’s Lyari area. In his confessional statement before the court, Bilal admitted to carrying out the murders as his family was a constant “nuisance”.
The case was registered on the complaint of Farooq Ahmed, the head of the family, and the father of the accused. According to the first information report (FIR), Farooq, who buys and sells cattle, and his son Sameer Ali left their home around 10:30 am on October 18. Farooq left his wife Shahnaz (51), daughter Madiha (18), granddaughter Alina (13), and Sameer’s wife Ayesha (19) and their three-month-old daughter alone in their apartment, situated on the seventh floor of Zainab Arcade in Lyari’s Lea Market.
While out, the complainant also dropped off another one of his daughters Samina at her home in the Jubilee Market area of the city when she informed him that her brother Bilal, who lived separately from the rest of his family, had dropped by Farooq’s home.
The complainant stated that he returned without Sameer around 3:15 am, but no one answered when he knocked on the door. He used their set of keys to enter the apartment, whereupon he discovered the bloodied corpses of the women. The three-month-old newborn was discovered under a bed.
According to Station House Officer (SHO) of the Baghdadi police station, Arshad Ahmed Rind, all four victims had their throats slit by a sharp-edged weapon.
In the initial FIR of the incident, Farooq did not nominate any suspects and provided that he had no enmity with anyone. During investigation, the police took statements from the surviving family members during which they noticed Bilal had cuts on his hands, for which he could not provide a satisfactory explanation.
Police formally arrested the suspect on October 20. In his initial confession, Bilal stated that he carried out the murders in the name of “honour” as he was ashamed of his sister’s TikTok videos. However, in a press conference the same evening of his arrest, District City Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Arif Aziz, explained that Bilal nursed a grudge against his mother for making him divorce his wife. He also wanted to marry another woman who demanded a separate house, for which his demand for share in his family’s property was denied.
The suspect was produced before Judicial Magistrate (South) Kalsoom Mustafa Sahto, where he also revealed that he murdered his niece Alina because she had seen him kill the other women.