In cold blood: Four-year-old boy slaughtered in Havelian

Prevalence of similar cases increasing

ABBOTABAD: A four-year-old boy was slaughtered in Havelian on Thursday. Police quoted Fida Muhammad, a resident of Ghora Bazgran village, as saying his son Abid* left the house to play with other children around 1pm on Wednesday. “When Abid failed to return home by evening prayers, we began a search for him,” said Fida.

“We found him in the fields of the village at night, dead.” The body was shifted to Rural Health Centre Havelian where doctors stated the boy’s neck had been slit with a sharp-edged weapon which proved fatal. The family accused Imran, 20, a resident of the same village, of murdering Abid in cold blood. An FIR was registered against him and he was arrested. The police are waiting on autopsy reports to confirm whether the victim was also raped or sexually abused.

Atrocities unchecked

On February 24, a boy of roughly 13 years of age was found with his throat slit at Bagh-e-Naran Park in Hayatabad, Peshawar. The body of Hashmat, a resident of Yakatoot, was found near the boundary wall of the park the next day. The cause of murder has yet to be ascertained.

A fortnight ago, the body of a teenage girl with her throat slit was found in an open field in Kotla Mohsin Khan within the jurisdiction of Banamarhi police station. Kiran*, who was 16 and a resident of Charkha Khel, went missing when her parents were attending a wedding ceremony. It is unclear if she was raped before the murder.

*names changed to protect identity

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2016.