HYDERABAD: In a crime that has left residents of Yakutpura stunned, a couple has been arrested for the brutal killing of their seven-year-old niece and dumping her body in a household water tank.
The arrested accused were identified as Mir Sami Ali, 36, and his wife Yasmeen Begum, 28, residents of Chawni in Yakutpura. The victim, Ummehani Sumaiya, was the daughter of Shabana Begum, who is Sami Ali’s sister. Police said the murder was fuelled by simmering disputes within the family, involving financial quarrels and suspicions of black magic.
According to the police, the child was alive when she was pushed into the tank on September 30. The horror came to light only on October 2, when her body was discovered after neighbours complained of foul odour.
The case unfolded when Sumaiya was reported missing by her mother the same day. Madannapet police initially registered a missing case and scanned CCTV footage, only to confirm that the girl had not stepped outside the house. This shifted the probe inside the family premises.
Investigators later pieced together the chilling sequence. On the afternoon of September 30, the accused lured the girl to the terrace under the pretext of play. They had already torn a bedsheet to make a rope. They tied her hands, gagged her mouth with plaster tape and overpowered her.
The couple then dragged her to the water tank, lifted the lid, and pushed her in alive. They sealed the tank shut and weighed the lid down with a stone. For the next two days, the family continued using water from the same source.
Police said the couple bore resentment against Sumaiya’s mother. They believed that Shabana was responsible for the death of their own daughter last year, which they attributed to “black magic”. Coupled with financial disagreements, this led to a deep grudge, ending in the child’s killing.
“The accused not only betrayed trust but committed the most gruesome act against their own blood,” an officer said, adding that a chargesheet would be filed shortly.