Woman and man arrested over multiple deaths

August 23, 2006 A thirty-five year-old woman and a forty year-old man, both from Burnage in Manchester, have been arrested in connection with the deaths of a woman and her three young children.

The corpses of Uzma Rahan and her three children were found in their home in Cheadle Hulme in Greater Manchester on Monday morning. Eleven year-old Adam, eight year-old Abbas and six year-old Henne were found to have serious head injuries, and post-mortem tests concluded that they died from being beaten to death. An examination into Mrs Rahan's death will be carried out later.

A Greater Manchester Police spokeswoman said this morning: "Police investigating the murder of a woman and three children in Cheadle Hulme have this morning arrested a 35-year-old woman from Burnage on suspicion of murder. She remains in police custody and will be questioned by officers later today."

Police are continuing to look for Rahan Arshad, the children's father. In a press conference on Monday, officers revealed that the thirty-six year-old went missing five weeks ago. There is a possibility that he could be abroad.

Det Supt Martin Bottomley, from Greater Manchester Police, told reporters: "We are still actively looking for Rahan Arshad and I now believe he left the country around 29 July. We will be liaising with our colleagues on international police forces to help us to trace him. I would ask that anyone who has seen him or been in contact with him since 29 July to contact the incident room or any police officer immediately."

It is thought the four victims had been killed a month ago.