A 65-year-old man was brutally murdered before being hacked to pieces in Karachi's Saddar area by a woman who was allegedly co-habiting with him for the past several years, officials said on Friday.

Preedy Police Station House Officer (SHO) Sajjad Khan said officials were informed about the murder at 3am on Friday through the 15 helpline, and rushed to Ilaco House in State Life Building No. 5 off Abdullah Haroon Road.

The officer said police found the man's body, lying on the floor over a pile of old clothes, in an apartment on the building's mezzanine floor.

"His head and hands were lying separate from the body in a nearby box," the police official said, adding that a 40-year-old woman was sleeping in another room in the apartment. She appeared to be intoxicated, the SHO said.

Witnesses and neighbours told the police that the victim and suspect were in a live-in relationship, but she insisted that she was his wife.

"According to neighbours, the two usually quarreled with each other over domestic issues, such as finances for various expenditures," the SHO said.

Police said it had collected evidence from the scene and the women had been taken into custody. Officials also called the victim's son and other relatives, who live near Atrium Mall in Saddar, to complete legal formalities.

Later, a first information report (FIR) was registered against the suspect under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code. The FIR was registered on the complaint of Sheikh Mohammad Shahid, the victim's son.

The body was shifted to Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC) for postmortem.

Victim's head was smashed open

Speaking to Dawn, JPMC Additional Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said the victim had been "brutally murdered".

She said that his head was smashed open with a hammer or a similarly hard and blunt instrument as brain matter was visible and there were three fractures on the skull.

She said that the victim's head had been separated from his body and both his hands had also been cut off, while there were multiple other injuries on his body.

Giving her initial assessment, the doctor said it appeared the victim was first killed using a hard and blunt instrument and was later hacked to pieces using a sharp-edged instrument or knife.

Dr Syed said that the female suspect had also been brought to the hospital for a medical examination. "She appeared to be intoxicated and was very aggressive," Dr Syed said, adding that she told doctors she had taken ice, also known as crystal meth.

SHO Khan said that the deceased was a father of eight children, all of whom lived in an apartment near Atrium Mall in Saddar. He said the man's family told police that the woman had been living with their father for the last six to seven years and they were not aware of the exact relationship between them.

The police officer said that a female child was also living with the victim and the suspect, who the latter claimed was the deceased's daughter.

"But the victim's son told police that when the family asked for the child's DNA sample, the suspect did not allow them to take it," he said.

SHO Khan said police officials were "sure" that the woman was involved in the gruesome incident and the motive appeared to be frequent quarrels between them over a host of issues.

"Further investigations are underway," he said.