Monstrous:

A father killed his wife and four daughters in their sleep because he could not bear them adopting a more westernised lifestyle, an inquest heard yesterday.

Mohammed Riaz, 49, found it abhorrent that his eldest daughter wanted to be a fashion designer, and that she and her sisters were likely to reject the Muslim tradition of arranged marriages.

On Hallowe’en last year he sprayed petrol throughout their terraced home in Accrington, Lancs, and set it alight.

Caneze Riaz, 39, woke and tried to protect her three-year-old child, Hannah, who was sleeping with her, but was overcome by fumes. Her other daughters, Sayrah, 16, Sophia, 13, and Alisha, 10, died elsewhere in the house.

Riaz, who had spent the evening drinking, set himself on fire and died two days later.

Clockwise from top left: Caneze Riaz with daughters Sayrah, Alisha and Sophia, Father killed family for being too western
Clockwise from top left: Caneze Riaz with daughters Sayrah, Alisha and Sophia

Relatives broke the news to the couple’s son, Adam, 17, as he lay terminally ill with cancer at the Christie Hospital, Manchester. He died six weeks later.

Related monstrous news:

A suspected Islamist zealot shot dead a Pakistani woman provincial government minister on Tuesday because he believed women should not be in politics, officials said…

Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat told Reuters the gunman had been implicated in six previous murder cases but had never been convicted because of a lack of evidence.

“He is basically a fanatic,” Basharat said. “He is against the involvement of women in politics and government affairs.”…

“He considers it contrary to the teachings of Allah for a woman to become a minister or a ruler. That’s why he committed this action,” the police said in a statement.