Two minor children of cleric found dead, suspicion on wife

Two minor children of a cleric were found dead on Wednesday with their throats slit while his wife, who was found seriously injured has emerged key suspect in incident in Bemina area of Srinagar.

Srinagar: Two minor children of a cleric were found dead on Wednesday with their throats slit while his wife, who was found seriously injured has emerged key suspect in the incident in Bemina area of the city here. Three-year-old Aalia and her two-year-old brother Mohammad Hashim were found murdered while their mother Naseema was critically injured in same way in their residential premises adjacent to a mosque at Iqbalabad locality of Batmaloo area, police sources said.

Naseema`s husband, Iftikhar Ahmad, is a cleric at a local mosque and was away leading prayers when the incident took place, they said. Police recovered blades and a blood-stained knife from the scene of crime and sent them for forensic tests. The cleric and some other persons were detained for questioning but preliminary investigations point towards involvement of Naseema in the gruesome incident, police sources said. The woman, who is battling for her life at SMHS hospital, was convinced that she and her children were possessed by devil, the sources said. The sources said while the forensic laboratory has profiled the finger prints found on the knife, police has not been able to obtain the finger prints of Naseema in view of her medical condition. Senior Superintendent of Police, Srinagar, Ashiq Bukhari, who is supervising the investigations, said no headway has been made in the case so far. PTI