KARACHI: The post-mortem report of Sara Malik, the woman who allegedly drowned at a Karachi beach three days ago, has revealed that the she died only a few hours before her body was found, instead of when she went missing.

The police have ruled Sara’s death a murder while further investigations are underway.

All samples have been collected to determine the cause of death, police surgeon, Dr Summaiya Syed, said.

The victim, Sara Malik, was feared to have drowned at Karachi’s Seaview beach on Friday, January 6. It was unclear whether the drowning was accidental or intentional. The woman’s family say that the girl was not suicidal.

Her body was recovered from the sea by rescue workers after two days on Sunday. Sara worked at the RPK Critter Care & Animal Hospital in the city’s DHA Phase 6 area.

“Initial investigation has revealed that Dr Shan Saleem, the suspect, sexually assaulted Sara Malik before she died by suicide,” Karachi South Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Syed Raza told Aaj News on Saturday.

However, the post mortem report has raised more questions.

CCTV footage showed Dr Sara leaving the Animal Hospital with her colleague Dr Basma before she went missing. Both can be seen leaving the clinic located in Defense Phase 6.

“On Saturday night, we raided the animal hospital where she used to work and arrested Dr Shan Saleem,” said the senior officer who also named several items recovered from Saleem’s room.

Police have sealed the vetrinary hospital where the victim and accused worked. SSP South Asad Raza said the animals that were under treatment at RPK Hospital are being handed over to their owners.

Physical remand

A local court in Karachi granted police five-day physical remand of Dr Shan Saleem on Monday while seeking a progress report at the next hearing.

In its report submitted in court, police added Section 302 (murder) of the PPC to the charges against Dr Shan.

The court was informed that the accused’s phone had been sent for forensic analysis. They added that the other individual nomianted in the case, Dr Basma, has not been arrested. Police are looking for concrete evidence against Dr Basma after which she will also be arrested.

When the court asked Dr Shan to explain the situation, Dr Shan claimed that the case against him was false. “Sara left the hospital alone on the day of the incident,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, the investigation officer (IO) told the court that the girl was spotted crying by herself at the beach.

When asked about the case, the IO told the court that two women worked at the veterinary hospital. “According to initial investigation, the girl left the hospital in anger. Jealously could be the reason,” he said.

Dr Shan’s statement to police

The police arrested the accused, Dr Shan Saleem on Saturday night.

In his confessional statement, the accused revealed that he pressurized the hospital staff to delete the CCTV footage of the hospital on Friday. Police questioned the accused about the contents of the CCTV footage and that why it was deleted.

The detained hospital owner admitted that he had sexual relations with Sara for the last two years.“Sara and I got into an argument a few days ago, when she found out about my relationship with another girl working in the hospital,” he said, “She came to the hospital on Friday and then left.”

Sources revealed that the accused Dr Shan is married and has 3 children. His family lives in the upper floors of the hospital building.