KARACHl: A teenage girl, who was the only eyewitness to her mother`s killing last year, was found dead in an underground water tank of her house in Machhar Colony on Tuesday with her hands and legs tied with rope.

Police said the body of 16-year-old Reema was found in the tank upon return of her elder sisters from work.

The victim used to live alone at home during the day since the murder of her mother last year as her elder sisters left for jobs early in the morning.

`When her sisters returned from their jobs, they didn`t find Reema at home,` said Inspector Qaiser Khan, the Docks police station SHO.

`They looked for her in the neighbourhood and other possible places but in vain. Finally, they noticed the home`s underground water tank [was] uncovered, which led them to look inside it.

`It`s obviously a murder and we are probing it from all possible angles. According to initial findings of the medico-legal examination, there were no torture marks on the body.

The Docks SHO confirmed that the victim`s mother was also shot dead last year inside her house by unknown armed men and Reema was the only eyewitness to that murder.

`Involvement of the same individual or group behind the girl`s murder could not be ruled out,` he added.

Axed to death In another incident, a 40-year-old woman was axed to death by her husband in Baldia Town on Tuesday.

Police said Shamim Begum, who was a mother of seven, suffered multiple axe strikes inside her house in Sector `A` of Baldia Town that proved fatal.

The alleged killer, Mohammad Bux, was later arrested by police.

`The suspect is a labourer,` said Inspector Abdul Ghaffar Koral, the Baldia Town SHO.

`The exact motive behind the murder is not yet clear but we have reasons to believe after the initial statement of the suspect that it took place due to some dispute within the family and is not a case of honour killing.

`The siblings of the victim and other family members are out of the city and we are also waiting for their response to determine the exact motive,` he concluded.