RAHIM YAR KHAN: A sickening video clip of police officials humiliating and torturing a young man and his veiled sister in the Sadiqabad city has gone viral, creating outrage on social media.
Dawn learned Shahzad Lateef was riding a motorcycle with his sister on Tuesday (July 19) when police constables Shabbir Ahmed and Qasim Raza with police volunteer Yaseen stopped them in Madina Town.
Police officials asked them about their relation with each other. When the motorcyclists told them, that they were siblings, policemen asked them to go to the Sadiqabad City police station for further interrogation.
Shehzad insisted on knowing about the reason which enraged the constables who started beating him, slapped his sister and abused them. The beating attracted a crowd there, and one of the onlookers recorded the scene and later uploaded it on a social media site. Seeing a crowd there, the policemen let them go.
When Shehzad approached them for a case against their colleagues, Sadiqabad City police refused his application.
Shehzad went to the deputy superintendent of police office only to learn that he busy in an operation against dacoits. Meanwhile, different TV channels aired the footage which pressurised the senior officials.
On Wednesday, Superintendent of Police Irfan Samoon suspended Shabbir and Qasim from service.
Spokesperson for police Arshad Nawaz told Dawn Mr Samoon would initiate an inquiry against the police employees seen in the footage soon as currently he was busy in the recruitment process.
The City station house office told Dawn that he was out of the town when the incident occurred but senior police officers were looking into the matter.
Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2016