Sickening: Child thrashed for ‘stealing a goat’

One of his relatives made a video of the ordeal and uploaded it online

DERA GHAZI KHAN: Taunsa police have registered a case against five suspects who had brutally beaten up a child last week for “stealing a goat”. Police said a member of the boy’s family had made a video of the incident on his phone and had shared it online. The video, available with The Express Tribune, shows the suspects taking the boy’s clothes off, tying him to a charpoy and pummelling him with various implements to get him to confess to the theft.

Police said the boy, a student of grade seven, was accused of stealing the goat by members of an influential family in Rakh Sanjar. They said the men of the family had summoned the child’s relatives and had thrashed him in front of them. One of his relatives had used his phone to make a video of the child’s ordeal. He had put it up online after which the video was shared several times.

Taunsa police have registered a case against Muhammad Sadiq Sahani, Shabbir, Abdur Rasheed, Sabir and Fayyaz under Sections 365 and 292 of the Pakistan Penal Code (illegal confinement, distribution or sale of obscene material). Shabbir and Fayyaz, two of the suspects, have obtained interim bail. A case has also been registered against Sahani’s brother Muhammad Khalid Sahani and his cousin Siddiq under Section 212 (harbouring an offender).

The boy’s father claimed that they were being pressured to forgive the suspects. He has appealed to the chief minister and chief justice to take notice of the incident and ensure that the culprits are punished.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 27^th, 2016.