Four more arrested for role in woman advocate’s murder

Hyderabad: Four more persons were arrested on Sunday for their alleged role in the murder of advocate Rayees Fathima at Tolichowki recently. They are family members of the victim and property dispute seems to be the reason for the murder. The assailant, her brother Md Arif Ali, was arrested the same day.

On July 29, advocate Rayees Fathima, 41, was killed by her brother, Md Arif Ali, 38, at her house in Tolichowki. The accused confronted Rayees Fathima at home when she was in kitchen and killed her by slitting her throat, Golconda inspector K Chandrasekhar Reddy said.

After committing the murder, Arif Ali surrendered before police. During investigation, police found that Arif Ali had committed the murder based on the instigation of his wife, Sameen Begum, and his three brothers — Md Rawoof Ali, 40, Md Hassan Ali, 36 and Md Asif Ali, 37. All the five accused were arrested and remanded in judicial custody on Saturday night, the inspector said.

Father of the accused, Mohammed Fakir Ali, who died recently, had several properties in the city and when he was alive, he intended to give 400 square yards of the property to his five daughters but his five sons were against the proposal, the inspector said. Recently, Ayesha Fatima, one of the sisters of the accused, filed a civil suit before the local court about ancestral property and the court issued summons to all her siblings. “The accused suspected that Rayees Fathima has made her sister file a civil suit and decided to eliminate her. While Arif Ali killed Rayees Fathima by slitting her throat, the other accused encouraged him to kill her,” the inspector said.