A tragic incident unfolded in Karachi’s posh Defence Housing Authority (DHA) area on August 14, when a 37-year-old woman allegedly killed her two children amid a custody dispute.

According to the police, the accused, identified as Adeeba Khalid, slaughtered her 8-year-old son, Zarar and 4-year-old daughter, Samia, in the washroom of her house in Khayaban-e-Mujahid. She later placed their bodies in a room and placed them on her lap.

DIG South Asad Raza confirmed the murders stemmed from the tensions linked to the couple’s separation.

The parents got divorced last year, and custody of the children was granted to the father, Ghufran Khalid, whilst the mother retained visitation rights.

On the day of the incident, Adeeba reportedly called her ex-husband around 2.30pm, telling him, “Do you know what I have done?”

She then made a video call showing the bodies of children. Ghufran immediately alerted helpline 15, but police said that the children had already been killed by the time they arrived.

Police arrested the woman at the scene and seized the knife used in the murder. She confessed to the crime, saying there was “no logical or reasonable reason” for the murders and expressed no intention to defend herself.

In her statement, she claimed that her children had asked her to “send them somewhere they would not face hardships like their mother”.

However, she didn’t elaborate when asked if the children faced mistreatment from their father.

The woman further told police that on the morning of the incident, she had seen her children having breakfast with their grandmother, shortly after which she took them to the washroom and killed them.

According to the ex-husband, the accused was suffering from mental problems. Initial investigations revealed that the woman and Ghufran Khalid met in Karachi in 2012, after which they got married.

Adeeba was one of four siblings, and her parents were also separated. She could not complete her education, and she occasionally did odd jobs, but did not have a permanent job.

According to the police, the woman was taking medication to treat mental problems and also gave the name of her female psychiatrist.

It is suspected that she was possibly under the influence of drugs at the time of the incident.

The police have registered a case against the woman at Darakhshan police station on the complaint of her ex-husband, while the deceased siblings have been buried in the cemetery of Defence Phase 8.