Karachi: A four-year-old boy was handed over to Edhi Foundation six days ago, launching a drive to locate the child’s family. On Tuesday night, the police found a woman’s body in Delhi Colony and they suspect the deceased may be the mother of this boy.
On May 25, a man who identified himself as Rizwan Ayaz Khan handed over Abdullah to officials at Edhi Centre in Clifton. He said he found the child at Do Darya. He submitted his overseas Pakistani identity card, NICOP, to the Edhi officers and mentioned a UAE address and contact details. Since then, the man is missing and his mobile phone is switched off.
The investigations took an ugly turn late on Tuesday when the police found a decomposed body inside a rented house in Clifton’s Delhi Colony and suspected that she may be Abdullah’s mother. “The neighbours found a woman’s body after they broke in,” Frere police SHO Chaudhry Latif said.
The victim, whose identity has yet to be confirmed, had rented the house about two months ago. “The same man who handed the child over to the Edhi Foundation had submitted the same NICOP and contact details to the real estate agent when the agreement was drawn,” said SHO Latif. “He said that he was her husband.”
It is clear that the same man, Khan, who handed Abdullah to Edhi was living with the woman and the child, said the officer. “The investigations depend on Khan who has yet to be traced,” he added.
Body at least 10 days old
Meanwhile, the body was shifted to the Edhi morgue in Sohrab Goth after the medico-legal formalities were completed at Jinnah hospital. “The body was completely decomposed as it was nearly 10 days old or more” said a medico-legal officer who requested anonymity. “The cause of the death has yet to be ascertained. The details will be confirmed in the chemical examination report which will take at least two weeks.”
Relative from Mansehra
Meanwhile, a young man, Muhammad Omar, has come from Mansehra claiming to be Abdullah’s uncle. “He is my nephew. I recognised him when I saw him on news channels,” he told the police.
Omar suspected that the body found may be his sister’s but he was unable to confirm as it was decomposed. “Omar’s mother is also coming from Mansehra to identify the woman,” said the police officer. “We will have to go for a DNA test.”
According to Omar, his sister’s husband, Chaudhry Iqbal, has been missing for the last few months. The last the family heard of him was that he went to Lahore for treatment of his heart.
Edhi identifies body
However, the Edhi Foundation claimed to have identified the body. According to Edhi Foundation’s Faisal Edhi, the woman brought to their morgue was identified as Halima and she was Abdullah’s mother. Faisal confirmed that Rizwan Ayaz brought the child to their centre and they have shared the CCTV footage with the police.
Earlier, Faisal shared that Halima’s neighbours came to visit them and told the officers that Halima, who hailed from Mansehra, married an influential man, Iqbal. However, Iqbal’s first wife and children objected to the second marriage. Fearing for her life, Halima left her house in Qayyumabad three months ago, he said.
As investigations continue, the boy is staying at Edhi Centre.
