‘Denied justice’ : ‘Son of murder victim’ attempts suicide

Officials climb electricity pole to get him down safely by using a snorkel

ISLAMABAD: What started as a regular morning in the capital with the spring sun bright, quickly turned sour after a man climbed a high-voltage pylon in the middle of the city with intentions of committing suicide.

The act drew onlookers, cops and rescue workers to the sight in Sector F-6/1 along Seventh Avenue. Some tried to persuade the man to climb down while others watched on with baited breath about what may happen next.

The authorities had to disconnect power supply through the high-voltage lines for his safety. As a result, power supply to the nearby Sector F-6 and other adjoining areas remained suspended for a few hours.



With hours-long efforts by the authorities to talk him down not yielding any positive results, they resorted to a different tactic — mounting a daring rescue at height.

Officials brought in as norkel of the fire department — which has a bucket at the end of a long, extendable, hydraulic arm.

Police officials and firemen rode up the arm and forced the man into the bucket and brought him down.

Once he was on the ground, officials were able to get his story.

The man was identified as 22-year-old Hafiz Rizwan Younis, a resident of Bahawalpur.

He had been visiting the capital for the hearing of his father’s murder in the Supreme Court.

Younis told officers that his father had been killed in 2006 when he was just 10-years-old. The police, though, had managed to catch the culprits and the Lahore High Court (LHC) had ultimately convicted them.

The culprits, however, had appealed the LHC's verdict in the Supreme Court.

Younis claimed that Friday’s hearing had left him disappointed and dejected with fear that his decade-long quest for justice may not materialise.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2018.