KARACHI: The family of a young man who was gunned down by police near the Cantonment Railway Station last week on Thursday demanded a high-level inquiry into the incident and urged the chief justice of Pakistan to take up the case on priority.

The mother and sister of Nabeel Hoodbhoy along with their lawyer spoke at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club in which they expressed their dissatisfaction over the pace of the inquiry into the murder case.

“My son was a British citizen; yet, I have not sought help from the United Kingdom. We want justice [for] Nabeel in the same manner as the world deals with such brutal murders,” said Nabeel’s mother.

She said her son was a sportsman who was gunned down by the police with impunity.

“Yet, we see no one in the senior authorities who have shown real interest in punishing the killers.”

She said Nabeel’s killing was not a one-off incident since “the police have gone wild particularly in district South where similar incidents have been reported previously”.

She said that no law permitted the police to open fire on unarmed citizens.

“The policemen who shot at my son ran away; and they were even not bothered enough to shift my seriously wounded son to hospital.”

She said despite lapse of around a week since the incident, there was no tangible progress by the police in solving the case.

Though the family was not impressed with the performance of the police vis-à-vis the case, Nabeel’s mother placed her hope in the institutions meant to provide justice to the people.

“No one is safe here in Pakistan as there is no one who can ask our guards as to why they have turned killers. Police are not doing anything; still, we have hope in the institutions in according justice to us.”

She said as things stood so far no one related to the incident had been suspended.

She appealed to Prime Minister Imran Khan to play his part in giving justice to her son.

“The prime minister should wake up to this. I want an eye for an eye. I don’t want to see another mother lose her son in the same fashion and by the same killers.

“I have lost my only son. I want justice for him and not just an apology from anyone. I want justice in a manner that conforms to the standards of justice.”

She demanded the Sindh chief minister to order a high-level committee to investigate the murder case.

Nabeel’s sister said her brother was a law-abiding Pakistani and had committed no crime to pay such a heavy cost.

“I beg for justice [for] Nabeel.”

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2019