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Srinagar: In a shocking case of Filicide (parent killing his own child), Mohammad Iqbal Khatana, father of a 7-year-old girl whose throat slit body was found outside her residence in Khurhama Zab area of Lolab in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, has confessed to the crime, police said on Monday.
The incident occurred on March 29, sending shockwaves across the valley and sparked outrage from various sections of the society with many demanding strict action against the accused.
According to the statement issued here by the police the father had a strained relationship with his wife for a year or so. On the fateful day Iqbal Khatana following an argument with his wife left the house hiding a knife in his chest with the pretext of repairing his transport vehicle.
His seven-year-old daughter followed him to the main road asking for some money. Thereafter, Iqbal Khatana drove with his daughter to a desolate place. He first suffocated her to death and then took her dead body to a firewood shed near his uncle’s home and there he slit her throat with the intention of putting the blame on his uncle. After washing himself of the blood stains, he then along with some locals approached the police to lodge a missing complaint.
Senior Superintendent of Police Kupwara, Yougal Manhas while speaking to reporters here, said that father was taken into police custody for questioning after the girl’s body was found. “During interrogation, he confessed to the gruesome crime. The knife which was used in the crime was also recovered from him,” he said. He further said that the police have registered a case against the accused under relevant sections of the law and are currently investigating the matter.