Residents of Malwani had a disturbing start to Thursday morning after the discovery of the brutal murder of three persons of the same family, including two children, in the area.
The bodies of Babli Shaw (47) and her grandchildren Aryan Ismail Shaikh (13) and Sania Ismail Shaikh (10) were discovered around 10.30 am at Babli’s house on Thursday morning by a neighbour. The trio lived in New Collector Colony of Malwani gate number six.
The Malwani police has registered a case of murder against unknown persons. On Thursday afternoon a team of forensic doctors visited the scene of crime to collect the samples and a sniffer dog was also led to the scene. The father of the deceased children, Ismail Shaikh, was picked up by the police for questioning.
Ayesha, the mother of Aryan and Sania, had died eight to nine years ago. According to members of the locality, Babli had been angry with Ayesha due to her inter-faith marriage with Ismail Shaikh. When Ayesha died due to a illness, Shaikh, who runs a fish shop, left his children at Babli’s place and married another woman, sources said. He resided at another end of Malwani, they said.
Abdul Mannan Bastabi, a local resident who first discovered the bodies, told The Asian Age that Babli often fought with her son-in-law. Babli had rented out two floors of her house and the rent money was her source of income, he said.
Talking to this newspaper, an official investigating the triple murder said, “Babli was talking on the phone till 1.30 am (early on Thursday) and the children were also seen playing outside the house by the locals till 12 am.”
The official said Babli and Sania, who were sleeping on the floor, had been repeatedly stabbed in the chest, throat, head and the back. Aryan, who was sleeping on the bed, died after his throat was slit, the official said.
Meanwhile, the police has recovered a knife from the scene of crime and will check it for fingerprints. The sniffer dog that visited the spot failed to get any scent as the police was informed around 10.30 am Thursday and by then the smell had vanished due to rain.
Police officials said they suspect a scuffle broke out between Babli and the killer but no one could hear what was going on in the house as the AC was on. The police suspects the killer was known to the family as there is no sign of forced entry in the house. Chances are that Babli allowed the killer entry through the main door and after killing her, the killer left via the back door, they said.
