Residents demanded that the brothers be kept in prison, and continued their protests for four hours despite the scorching heat. . PHOTO: FILE
The two cannibal brothers whose horrific exploits sent a wave of fear and loathing through the residents of Darya Khan, a town in district Bhakkar, have been re-arrested soon after they were released from jail.
Arif and Farman were first arrested in April 2011 after they were found to have disinterred corpses in the local graveyard for the purpose of eating them.
It was reported that the brothers had dug up and devoured parts from close to 150 bodies before they were finally caught.
Since Pakistan has no specific laws against cannibalism, they were originally arrested under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO)section of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), and were later charged under section 295-A of the PPC. They were sentenced to two years imprisonment and fined Rs50,000 each.
After the completion of their sentence, they were released from Mianwali’s district jail and returned to their hometown, to the shock and outrage of residents.
Terrified by the return of the notorious cannibal brothers, the locals held protests blocking the national highway with rickshaws and raising slogans against the district administration and the police.
“I don’t care if they’re handed over to the Taliban in Afghanistan; I just don’t want them here,” said Shahid who was out protesting against this unwanted homecoming.
They demanded that the brothers be kept in prison, and continued their protests for four hours despite the scorching heat. Soon after the release, panicked locals also started visiting the graves of their loved ones to make sure the brothers had not returned to their cannibalistic ways. Sadiq, a resident of the village, told The Express Tribune that he started visiting his parents’ graves every three hours to make sure the graves were undisturbed.
Residents of Darya khan also started restricting their children to their homes, even in daylight hours, and planned to make teams of volunteers who would be deputed in all local graveyards.
Taking note of the situation the DCO Bhakkar, Mumtaz Hussain, ordered the re-arrest of the brothers under the MPO, and SHO Saddar Qasim Nasoka started conducting raids to arrest the brothers. Police arrested Arif on Wednesday and arrested Farman on Thursday, shifting both to an undisclosed location.
Interestingly, the two brothers have spent most of their two year prison term in King Edwards medical college Lahore, where they were being examined by the neurophysiology department. The department is expected to publish its detailed research on this at some point.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 7th, 2013.
COMMENTS (10)
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@Sameer: I wish there was a thumbs down button which I could use for your comment. By the way recommending yourself does not count.
@doom: "don’t we have laws against desecrating graves and stealing and destroying buried bodies?...:
We don't. Ever wonder why people get away with desecrating ahmadi graves? Dead people should have no enemies or should not have hatred directed at their final resting place.
Pakistanis have no problem with their children getting butchered by the Taliban. But they feel uncomfortable about these guys. At least they are not killing anyone
I dont think the 2 guys are psychologically distressed. It us who are. To me they are two brilliant master minds who continue cannibalism without any harm to themselves. They dont kill humans so that they might get caught, instead they let the target killers, doctors (yes unfortunately), police and rangers (the so called protectors), that brother who kills his sister in the name of honor,that school van driver who for a few rupees risks the innocent lives,.... and the list is endless. They are just ripping apart the dead ones, a crime which has nothing about in the law book. And look at us, how innocent we are, how can we judge if its a crime or not as the law says nothing about it.
@Naveed Can we please stop using such corny jokes? Trust me these sou-motto jokes have turned into cliches.
Where is uz-khud Notice!
Loved the Last Paragraph!! Pakistan is Changing!!
@doom It's obvious that these 2 brothers have a psychological disorder. If left free, there is a great chance that they may kidnap young and helpless individuals to devour them; thus, spreading panick among the locals. I feel these 2 need to be locked up in a mental institution so that local area citizens can feel safe letting their children go outside their houses.
It is understandable that there are no laws against cannibalism per se. But don't we have laws against desecrating graves and stealing and destroying buried bodies? But probably it is not a crime with a long jail term?
I guess the problem is that legally they aren't really hurting anybody...unless one counts psychological distress or something wishy-washy like that.