Supreme Court orders Sindh govt to pay Rs1m compensation in Amal Umer case

Rs500,000 should be paid to Amal’s parents and remaining amount to Rah-e-Amal trust, orders apex court

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has ordered the Sindh government to pay Rs1 million as compensation for the death of Amal Umer – a 10-year-old girl who lost her life when a stray bullet hit her during a police encounter in Karachi on Aug 13, 2018.

The crossfire between police and two robbers took place when the victim’s family was being mugged in Akhtar Colony. The bullet that hit her was fired by a policeman.

A three-judge apex court bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, ordered that Rs500,000 should be paid to Amal’s parents and the remaining amount to the Rah-e-Amal Trust – a trust established in the victim’s name.

SC orders court to make decision in Amal Umer case within three months

The bench also ordered that all recommendations of the committee formed in the case, including action against the involved policemen, must be implemented in letter and spirit.

The chief justice, in his observation, questioned standards of basic training provided to police force, saying that they were not even aware as to where to shoot and where not to.

Citing a recent robbery in which snatchers didn’t even spare school bag of a boy, Justice Gulzar said police were aware of culprits behind rising street crimes in the city. “A person will be helpless if four, five guns are pointed at them,” he commented.

Justice Shah, in his observation, said the rising crime rate in the Sindh capital was the failure of police department.