Boy catches fire but no one knows how

Police yet to trace culprits who set fire to class nine student

SUKKUR: Naushero Feroz police have to find out who was behind setting on fire a class nine student Monday morning.

Doctors said that the boy, Abdul Qayoom alias Din Muhammad Panhwar, who has been shifted to the burns ward of Civil Hospital, Karachi, has received 80% burn injuries and is struggling for life.



On Monday, Abdul Qayoom was sitting at his father's shop near the railway track in Mitha Khan Panhwar village when two masked men on a motorcycle raided the shop, caught hold of the boy, set him on fire after pouring petrol and fled.

People in the vicinity rushed the boy to the hospital in Tharushah, from where he was taken to Hyderabad hospital, where the doctors provided him first aid and further referred him to Karachi.

The boy's father, Abdul Karim Panhwar, told The Express Tribune that his son is admitted in the burns ward of Civil hospital. Quoting the doctors, he said that the boy has received 80% burn injuries and chances of his survival are 25%. Panhwar recalled that he left Abdul Qayoom as usual at his shop and went to another village in connection with some work. "As soon as I reached the village, I received a phone call from a friend who told me that my son has been set on fire by two unidentified persons," he said.

According to him, after admitting the boy in the hospital, he went to the Tharushah police station and registered a complaint against unidentified persons. He said that his son had arguments with the nephews of a serving policeman from Sujawal district, on Sunday. According to him, the boys threatened his son of dire consequences and he was set on fire the next day.

The assistant head constable of Tharushah police station, Mohammad Ashraf Kalhoro, told The Express Tribune that the police are investigating the matter. He shared that besides selling grocery items at his shop, Abdul Karim also used to sell petrol. He claimed that Abdul Qayoom often used to burn garbage by pouring petrol on it and he might have caught fire in doing so.



According to the unit chief of the burns centre of Civil Hospital, Karachi, Dr Ahmer Ibran, the child has 77% to 80% third-degree burns on his body. "We have been trying very hard to save his life but there is little hope since there are less chances of survival if third-degree burns are over 30%," he said.

According to him, Abdul Qayoom has been put on antibiotics and high intake of fluids. However, he added, his condition will remain critical for five to seven days due to the high rate of mortality of such patients. He further added that burns of patients who accidentally catch fire are not as deep as the child's, adding that those who have been burnt deliberately are soaked in chemical, which catches fire more rapidly and burns the muscle tissues more deeply.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2017.