Srinagar, Apr 03: In a horrifying incident , a 36-year-old father killed his 9-year-old daughter in Kupwara’s ZabKhurhama village as he intended to kill himself, according to police, adding, he allegedly did it because he was experiencing mental anguish over domestic issues with his wife.
Addressing the press conference, SSP Kupwara Yougal Manhas stated , “At roughly 4:15 p.m., Mohammad Iqbal Khatana arrived home from daily job, and between 4:15pm and 6:00pm, he finished domestic tasks, splitting firewood.” He had a heated exchange of words with his wife (Nageena Begum) at 6:30 p.m., with whom his relationship has been strained since last year, and the couple has frequently witnessed arguments that resulted in minor scuffles. The couple had a heated argument on Wednesday, following which the husband left for work.
According to Manhas, “Iqbal was intending to kill himself. Uzma Iqbal (the deceased child) followed her father and asked for 5 rupees, and Iqbal gave him a 10-rupee currency note. Iqbal’s wife also followed him up to the courtyard, however, Uzma followed her father up to the main road.
Nageena Begum, ShowketKhatna (Iqbal’s brother), Asif Khatana (Iqbal’s cousin), and Haji Salam Din Khatana (Iqbal’s uncle) had all seen Uzma accompany her father up to the main road, where she was no longer visible due to a line-of-sight obstacle because the main road sits on higher terrain. Everyone present agreed that Uzma had departed with her father, who needed to mend stepneyof his two-wheeler in Khurhama.
“Iqbal took Uzma in his vehicle and reached Harden Road (crossing), then to Sewer through the link road, and at 7:15 he reached Khurhama Bus-Stand, where he halted until 8:10 p.m. waiting for Isha Azaan, so that the street gets depopulated, making it convenient to kill himself.” SSP added.
As people left for Taraweeh, he drove his vehicle further to Zab-Khurhama, near a transformer, where he halted the vehicle. Out of mental anguish due to domestic issues with his wife, he suffocated Uzma for around 2-3 minutes, as a result of which Uzma died on the spot. The incident happened at around 8:20 p.m.
With the body of Uzma in his arms, Iqbal drove back to Harden Crossing, where he parked his vehicle to the side, and he walked to the left towards Tin-Shed (Power-Project), and therefrom he stealthily reached the fire-wood shed next to his uncle’s house around 8:20 pm.
The accused then drove to his house and carried his daughter’s body to a spot next to the firewood shed of his uncle’s house.
“He placed the body in the shed in the supine position (chest facing upwards) and then slit her throat with the knife, so that the blame falls on the occupants of the adjacent houses,” the officer said.
The accused then returned home, where the other family members raised a hue and cry when they saw Uzma was not with him. Subsequently, the accused, along with a few others, went to the Khurhama police post in his vehicle to get a missing report lodged for Uzma, SSP added.
