A group of students opened fire on their opponents during a volleyball match on Wednesday.
According to eyewitnesses, two high school students at the Joharabad Government High School for Boys shot their opponent during the match. “They were all playing when there was an argument over a match point and both teams had a minor scuffle. A school teacher separated the groups and they agreed to continue the match,” said eyewitness Hassan. “Soon after Arif asked to be excused to go to the men’s room and when he returned they resumed the match. A few minutes later Arif and Atif were both wielding guns and shooting at the other team,” Hassan told police.
According to police, Hadali residents Arif and Atif had shot and seriously injured Umar during the exchange. “Two other students were also injured but they only received minor injuries and have already been discharged by the hospital,” said a school administrator Qamar Mehmood. “I immediately called the staff when the shooting broke out and the police were called to the scene. Students began running and it was chaos,” he told police.
“Umar was severely injured and we rushed him to the hospital, while the police took Arif and Atif in for questioning,” Mehmood said. Doctors at the DHQ hospital said that Umar was in recovery but had suffered a bullet wound to his chest. “He is having trouble breathing but we are doing everything we can,” said Dr Abdullah Khan. “We have issued a medical support for the police,” he added.
“This was horrific. It is unimaginable that young boys would begin shooting at each other because of a match point in a silly game,” said school teacher Rana Bilal Tahir. “We have informed the parents of the boys that they are in police custody and they will both be expelled for brining fire arms to school,” he said.
Joharabad police said that Arif and Atif admitted to bringing guns to school and shooting on their opponents. “They swore at us and we weren’t going to let them get away with that. So I went in and got my gun. My brother and I have always carried a gun and the school never cared about it before,” Arif told police. Joharabad police have registered a case against the accused.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 29th, 2011.
COMMENTS (6)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
1713853507-0/MalalaHilary-(2)1713853507-0-270x192.webp)
Where's the freaking 'dislike' button when you need it? This is awful.
The concept of Wajib-ul-qatl is wrong. Once you start accepting that there are some people thatdeserve to be killed then people can keep expanding the definition of who is waj-b-ul-qatl and such senseless violence will continue to escalate.
There is an urgent need to arrest people (including mullahs, TV aalims etc). who are proven to spread hate through speeches or through publications that serve the same purpose.
This is Pakistan for you. Hopeless case!
I don't know what kind of parents were those that allowed these stupid people carry a gun. OUTRAGEOUS!
Ofcourse man! we are very serious about sports! we're always too serious about the wrong things.
I live in Dubai where NO citizen is allowed to carry a gun. The crime rates are low and such stories are unheard of here. It's time Pakistanis initiated removing this access to firearms from the common person. My dad tells me how when he lived in Pakistan during the 70s , no one ever carried weapons and life was peaceful.