Police have arrested a woman accused of killing her 14-month-old step-son in Karachi’s Steel Town, officials said on Saturday.

According to police sources, the infant was allegedly strangled by his stepmother while his father and biological mother were in Thatta.

Officials said the child had been left in the care of the father’s second wife. At around 2.00 p.m., the father was informed that the child’s condition had deteriorated. When the parents rushed back to Karachi, they found their son had died.

“Initial evidence suggests the child may have been strangled,” a police official said, adding that further investigations were underway.

The body was shifted for medico-legal examination, while the suspect was taken into custody. Police said a case would be registered after completion of preliminary inquiries.

Authorities said all aspects of the incident were being examined to determine the exact circumstances surrounding the child’s death.