Torture at jail: Kot Lakhpat SHO asked for his comments

Petitioner says he was tortured by prison staff, prisoners.

LAHORE:

An additional district and sessions judge on Friday issued a notice to SHO Kot Lakhpat for April 20 seeking his comments in a petition for registering an FIR against the jail superintendent, deputy superintendent, medical officer, a warder and two prisoners for allegedly torturing a prisoner.

The complainant, Dr Faheem Raza, had filed the petition in Muhammad Musharraf Hassan Sumra’s court saying that the SHO concerned be directed to register a case against the jail officials under Sections 337/FI/FII.

Raza said that a case was registered against him under Section 489/F at Faisal Town police station and he was sent to jail. He said that towards the end of Ramazan, he discovered pieces of human flesh in the food provided to him by the jail authorities.

He said that the jail authorities had told him not to disclose the matter. He said that when he did, they put him in another cell and tortured him. He said the jail medical officer started giving him injections, which kept him unconscious most of the time. He said that the SP and the DSP pulled off his toe nails and starved him for several days.

He asked the court to direct the SHO concerned to register a case against the respondents.

The judge issued notice to the Kot Lakhpat SHO to file his comments by April 20.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2011.