RAHIM YAR KHAN: An elderly man died when the police raided his house to arrest his son on Friday, as claimed by Zafar Bakhsh, nephew of deceased Ghous Bakhsh, aged 65.

He told reporters on Sunday that he was asleep late on Friday at his uncle’s house in Basti Jong Bilawal of Aminabad in the police limits of Paka Laaran, Liaqatpur when a police team raided the house to arrest Muhammad Fayyaz, Ghous’s son, anted in an old theft case filed by their political rivals.

He claimed that due to 20 police raids during the last 10 months, Fayyaz had shifted to Karachi. The police arrested both Ghous and brother of Fayyaz, Muhammad Riaz.

The police party put them in their vehicle, and as they were en route to the police station, Ghous died in the vehicle. However, the police threw the body on the road and took Riaz with them. When, with some other relatives, they shifted Ghous to the Liaquatpur Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, doctors pronounced him dead.

The heirs filed a murder case petition on Saturday against the policemen in the court of magistrate section 30 under sections 302/148,149,365/459 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Upon receiving news of Ghous’s death, the police released Riaz and pressurised the deceased’s family for mediation. When the family refused, the police detained the body. On Saturday night, the postmortem examination of the deceased was conducted at Sheikh Zayed Medical College Hospital.

However, after the postmortem, the police once again took the body into their custody, Zafar said. Later, the police pressured the heirs to provide an undertaking that they would not take any legal action against the police before they returned the body.

When contacted, police spokesperson Saif Ali Wains told Dawn that the body was handed over to the heirs on Sunday evening after completing all legal requirements.

WIFE BEATER: A man shaved his wife’s head and injured her on Saturday night. Reports said that Shameen Sadaf, of Basti Naiyaan in Rahim Yar Khan, was at her home when her husband, Kashif Javed shaved her head at gunpoint.

He also assaulted her with the handle of a pistol and recorded videos of the incident. Javed also forced her to drink water mixed with pesticides. When her condition became critical, he took her to Sheikh Zayed Medical College Hospital. The airport police have registered an FIR against Javed under sections 324, 355, 337V, and 337J of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2023