Three women and five children related to a fugitive in Pakistan's Sindh province were today feared dead after they jumped into a river to avoid getting caught by police, a media report said.
The eight persons took the extreme step when a police team arrived at their home looking for the "proclaimed offender" or fugitive, Geo News Channel reported.
The body of one child was recovered from the choppy waters of the Indus river and divers were searching for the others.
The channel reported the fugitive was not at home at the time of the raid.
"The women feared the police would take them away and then use them as hostages to force the wanted criminal to surrender. So, they preferred to drown rather than fall in the hands of police," a source was quoted as saying.
An investigation was launched into the incident.
