Cases of grave desecration continue unabated

Man finds his newborn baby girl’s body behind bushes the next day of her burial

LAHORE: Cases of grave desecration continue to be reported in the city. Citizens believe gravediggers are involved in the practice to earn financial benefits and the government needs to look into the problem.

Farooq Haseeb registered a case at Kot Lakhpat police station a few months ago that a gravedigger had desecrated the grave of his newborn baby girl. “I visited my daughter’s grave the next day of her burial and found out that it was prepared again. I looked around shockingly and spotted her body behind the bushes,” he shared. When Haseeb asked the gravedigger, he replied that he had buried her in another grave.

Haseeb was very upset because he had found her daughter’s body behind the bushes. However, he decided to inform the police. An FIR was registered under Section- 297 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) against the gravedigger named Rafaqat Ali. Police submitted a challan against him.

Investigation Officer Zulfiaq Hussain told The Express Tribune the accused had joined the graveyard a few months back and investigation revealed that he was involved in just one case. He desecrated the grave just to earn a meager amount of Rs1,000, added Hussain.

Gravediggers keep an eye on graves that are left unattended for a long time, said sources. Moreover, rains also keep damaging the graves and when their conditions worsen, gravediggers sell the grave to bury another person just to earn money.

Grave concerns of a gravedigger

Miani Sahib Graveyard Security Officer Bashir Ahmad rules out the possibility of desecration of graves in order to steal coffin or slabs. “I was appointed over 12 years ago and during this time not even a single case was reported at this largest and oldest graveyard of the city,” he claimed.

However, Ahmad admitted that the issues of drug dealing, drugs consumption and robberies do take place in the graveyards. Talking about the drug addicts, he said that security guards deal with them and hand them over to the police.

He said that over a dozen security guards work under his supervision and police also help them in patrolling, he said. Graveyards are spread over hundreds of kanals and at night they present a deserted look, he said, adding that one cannot even imagine walking through them alone.

Punjab Auqaf Department Spokesperson Asif Ejaz said that only one graveyard is being run under the department’s supervision and security guards are deployed there to deal with such issues.

Efforts were made to contact Deputy Commissioner Imran Maqbool but he did not respond.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2020.