Aggrieved father holds police of Tando Muhammad Khan responsible for daughter’s suicide

The girl was allegedly being harassed, father claims police delayed action

HYDERABAD: A man whose young daughter committed suicide allegedly because she was subjected to blackmailing and harassment by a group of young men has blamed the police for trying to weaken the investigation. Her father, Dr Lachman Das, told a press conference in Hyderabad on Monday that the police of Tando Muhammad Khan district is weakening the case.

Das nominated three persons, Somchand Meghwadh, Mahesh Meghwadh and Ashok Meghwadh, in the FIR containing sections of Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016, as well as the Pakistan Penal Code. The three had shared photos of the deceased on social media, prompting her to take her life.

"I had personally registered a complaint with the SSP about the blackmailing 16 days before my daughter committed suicide. Had the police taken timely action, my daughter would have been alive today," he lamented.

He said although all three suspects were under arrest, he feared the lacuna in the investigation would make their bail easier. Das claimed that the subscriber identification module (SIM) from which the photos were shared on social media is registered in the name of a soldier currently posted in Balochistan. However, that soldier belongs to a village in Tando Muhammad Khan.

He claimed that although the police summoned and quizzed the soldier, his statement that his SIM was lost two months ago has been taken at face value. He demanded that the soldier be treated as a suspect in the case and the police and FIA find his relation with the three suspects.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2019.