SAHIWAL: An unidentified man threw acid on a married woman, her seven-year-old daughter and her mother-in-law while they were sleeping in their courtyard at village Bhawani on Thursday night.

Bahadur Shah Police registered a case on the complaint of the motherin-law, Anwar Bibi.

According to the first information report, Anwar was living with her daughter-in-law, Abida Bibi, and her seven-year-old granddaughter, Taniya, in village Bhawani. Her son, Ghulam Abbas, worked in Karachi.

The women were asleep in the courtyard when Anwar heard screams and cries of her daughter-in-law and granddaughter. She saw a man had thrown acid on both of them. She also shouted and ran to save them when the man threw acid on her body also.

The attacker succeededin escaping from the house.

The locals shif ted the three burnt women to the Sahiwal Teaching Hospital.

The sources in the hospital told Dawn Abida and her minor daughter were shifted to Lahore because about 75pc of their bodies had been burnt.

District Police Officer Sadiq Baloch formed a special team, headed by SDPO Abdur Rehman Asim, to investigate the case and identify and arrest the unidentified assailant.Noor Shah SHO Rashid Subhani told Dawn by phone that police visited the victims` house and did forensic analysis of the crime scene.

Inspector General of Police Rao Sardar Ali took notice of the incident and directed the DPO to remain in contact with affected family and make efforts for the arrest of the culprit/s.

BODY FOUND: The body of a woman who had been missing from her home for the last five days was found in a public water tank at Jahaz Ground.

The residents of Jahaz Ground were constantly complaining to tube well operator of the metropolitan corporation that a stinking smell was coming from the water but he did not pay heed. When thestink became unbearable, the municipal staff went up to see in the water tank and found the body of a woman floating in it.

Rescue 1122 was called, its staff brought the body out of the tank and handed it over to the City police.

City SHO Mudassar Ghaffar told Dawn the body had been sent for postmortem to determine whether it was a suicide or murder case.

Later, the SHO confirmed the deceased woman`s identity.

He said the 35-year-old woman was a resident of Multan and married in Sahiwal. Her husband divorced her and she was living with her three children at Jahaz Ground.

A sister of the deceased woman was living in the city and she recognised her body.