Two officials from the US Embassy met Lahore’s Deputy Inspector General (Investigation) as police continued investigating the deaths of a woman and her three children in the city’s Valencia Town area.

According to police sources, the deceased woman, identified as Aleena, her husband Nasir and their three children were all US citizens.

During the meeting, the US officials were briefed on the incident and the progress made in the investigation so far.

Police informed them that forensic and other laboratory reports were still awaited and that the investigation would be finalised once the findings were received.

The four family members were found dead at their home on July 17. The victims were identified as 40-year-old Aleena, 16-year-old Rehan, 11-year-old Arshia and nine-year-old Arsal.

Police have already recorded the statement of Aleena’s husband, Nasir, who told investigators that his wife had allegedly mixed poison into ice cream before serving it to the children.

According to his statement, he had gone out to buy groceries and returned to find his wife behaving normally.

She offered him water and served him ice cream, while telling him the children had gone to a friend’s house.

A neighbour later informed him that the children’s bodies were lying inside shopping bags in the courtyard. He said he then found his wife’s body inside a locked bathroom after forcing the door open. She was taken to hospital, where she later died.

Police have seized the ice cream, shopping bags and other evidence for forensic examination, while food samples collected from the house have also been sent for laboratory analysis.

A murder case has been registered under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code. Investigators have stressed that no final conclusion regarding the cause of death or motive can be reached until forensic and post-mortem reports are received.

Police have also said the woman had been receiving treatment for a mental health condition but cautioned against linking the incident to any specific cause before the investigation is complete.