According to a recent report by the Free Press Journal, actress Laila Khan’s step-father Parvez Tak was found guilty of murdering her, her siblings, and their mother in February 2011, during a sessions court on Thursday. The court will pronounce the quantum of sentence in the murder case that happened 14 years ago, on Tuesday, next week. For the unversed, Tak has allegedly brutally murdered Laila, her four siblings, and their mother Shelina with the help of their house help Shakir. Sandwiched in mattresses and pillows, their bodies were reportedly found buried in the backyard of a farmhouse in Igatpuri.
If reports are to be believed, Shelina’s third husband, Tak, hit her on the head after an argument about her closeness with her second husband Asif Shaikh, with an iron rod. Apparently, she was planning to make Shaikh the caretaker of her property. Shelina’s son Imran, daughter Azmina, and niece Aafreen were clubbed with iron rods and stabbed after they rushed to her rescue. During the time of the murder, sisters Laila and Zara were in Mira Road, Mumbai, closing a land deal. Parvez knew they were carrying jewellery and Rs 2 crores back to the farmhouse.
Shakir and Tak picked them up from Mira Road and murdered them near Ghodbunder Road, while they were on their way back. The bodies were then brought back, wrapped in mattresses, and buried with the others. The accused sent the farmhouse on fire after burying their bodies in a pit. At the time of their death, Shelina was 51, Laila was 31, the actress’ elder sister was 32, and twins Zara, Imran were 25.
Nadir Patel, Shelina’s first husband, and the actress’ father, had filed a complaint with the Oshiwara police station after the family had gone missing. He blamed Tak and Shaikh for the family’s disappearance. The police detained Shaikh in Bengaluru but he was later let off. On the other hand, Parvez was arrested since he was last seen with the family in Igatpuri. FPJ reports that the step-father has managed to escape with two family cars to his native place in Kashmir. He was arrested by the J&K police in July 2012, in a forgery case. He later confessed to the murders in Maharashtra.
After his confession, the bodies were dug out by the Crime Branch units 8, 9, and 12. Throughout the investigation, officials stated that Tak kept on changing his statements. The prosecution examined 41 witnesses to prove the case against Tak. The key witnesses in the matter were Shelina’s former husbands Patel and Shaikh. As per the report by the media publication, the latter had even claimed that Tak did not like him visiting their house, since he was in contact with his ex-wife and step-kids despite their divorce. He went on to reveal that, according to the kids, Tak used to force the girls to move to Dubai for prostitution.
Image Source: Instagram