The elder brother has turned out to be the accused of the killings of three minor girls in Muzaffargarh's Thermal Power Colony area, the 24NewsHD TV channel reported on Wednesday.
According to police, they have arrested three elder brothers of the minor sisters. One of the brothers, Basit, has confessed to the killings, saying he took the young girls to a nearby empty house one by one and killed them there on Monday, said District Police Officer Hasnain Haider.
The victims were identified as seven-year-old Fatima, eight-year-old Zahrah, and 11-year-old Areesha. Their father works as a security guard.
Reports said Fatima and Zahrah went outside to play in the evening but didn’t return home. After some time, their sister Areesha went out in search of her siblings but she also met the same fate and didn’t return.
Police and family initially failed to trace the three siblings. Later, the dead bodies were found in a deserted flat adjacent to their house.
Basit blamed the gruesome murders on his mental stress which he said was caused by the pressure to repay loans he had taken from some people, according to Haider.
The gruesome murders shocked the entire region and Punjab Inspector General of Police Dr. Usman Anwar took notice of the incident. He directed Muzaffargarh District Police Officer Syed Hasnain Haider to visit the family and investigate the case.
Caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi also sought a report of the tragic incident from the RPO. He also directed police to arrest the perpetrators at the earliest.
Acting upon the instructions, police traced out the suspect, who came out to be the victim's elder brother, and arrested him.
The family belonged to the Talagang district and the bodies were sent to the hometown of the girls’ parents after funeral prayers.
Reporter: Aamir Dogar