A young man was shot dead and his wife seriously injured in an attack by unknown individuals in Karachi's SITE area on Saturday, police said.

A police officer said the murder took place early Saturday but police were informed by a neighbour around 12pm.

By the time the police arrived at the crime scene, Rashid Ali, 26, had passed, while his wife, Shabeena Arshad, 26, was not in a position to give a statement to the police.

The couple had a one-year old daughter who remained safe in the attack. She is currently safe with a neighbour, police said.

The incident took place inside the couple's one-room rented home in the Valika area.

SP Asif Ahmed Bughio told Dawn that the couple had married of their own free will around two years ago in Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They had subsequently shifted to Karachi.

The police officer suggested that the couple might have been targeted by their relatives.

Both the dead and injured were shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.