CHAKWAL: On the corner of a street in one of the city’s less affluent areas, neighbours peer over walls and gates as an elderly widow and a couple of young men try to cram their luggage onto a loader rickshaw.

The widow, helped by one of her sons and his friend, are watched over by their landlord, who has evicted them from his property and wants them gone as soon as possible.

This unfortunate widow was kicked out of her modest abode after one of her sons – said to be mentally ill – was arrested on charges of alleged blasphemy by police earlier this week.

“My son is mentally ill and had been behaving strangely for the last six months,” the widow tells Dawn with tears in her eyes. This account is supported by their friends and neighbours; the young man had been struggling with a mental disorder from quite some time.

The family has lived in Chakwal for around 35 years, moving there from Rawalpindi after the woman’s late husband found work at a brick kiln. The couple had three sons and a daughter. When her husband passed away a few years ago, the family had no breadwinner to support them.

To fill this vacuum, two of her sons began to do odd jobs as daily wagers, while the middle child completed his intermediate education and apprenticed himself to a tailor. He soon became quite skilled and was able to support the family with a steady income.

Eventually, the widow’s oldest and youngest sons moved away to earn a living elsewhere, leaving their brother the tailor to live with their mother.

The family, which had fallen on hard times, was in debt and it was her middle son who shouldered the burden of paying back what they owed.

“He took too much tension and got frustrated. Six months ago, he started behaving in an odd way. Sometimes, he appeared normal, while other times he would talk to himself, and move his fingers in strange way,” his mother said.

“I saw him sleeping in the street some nights. One night, I saw him standing under a tree near his house and he was sucking his own blood from his injured finger,” a close friend of the accused said.

Another man, a neighbour of the family, confirmed that the young man had been suffering from mental health issues for around six months.

In this time, he quit his job as a tailor. One of his friends even took him to a doctor, because he did not have the money to pay for his treatment. The friend also helped him find work at another tailor’s, but the young man could not cope with the workload.

“He earned Rs500 per dress; some days he managed to stitch one dress, other days he would leave the work half-finished,” the owner of the shop told Dawn. Often, he could be found standing outside the shop muttering to himself.

“When I sensed that he was mentally ill, I told him that I could not retain him any longer. On Oct 30, I fired him,” the employer said.

Upon hearing this bombshell, the young man went to an adjacent room and allegedly uttered some blasphemous words in front of two of his co-workers.

The matter was reported to the police, who were also pressured by local religious groups to take action. A case was eventually registered under Section 295C of the CrPC and Section 16 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO). Police then took the accused into custody and placed him behind bars.

The young man’s family has now appealed for his medical examination, saying they are unable to fight the case as they cannot afford to hire a lawyer.

A police official told Dawn a medical examination would be conducted during the course of the investigation.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2024