Decapitated body of girl found in canal
PHOTO: EXPRESS
The decapitated body of a girl has been found in Pul Dangro Canal.
Local people informed the police after seeing the body of a girl aged about 25 floating in Pul Dangro Canal in Nishatabad. Police pulled the body out of the canal and discovered that it did not have a head. The head had been chopped off by unidentified persons with a sharp tool and the body had been thrown into the canal.
Police took the body into custody and shifted it to Allied Hospital's mortuary for postmortem. They registered a case against unidentified killers and started searching for the family of the deceased.
A number of cases of murders of unidentified men and women by unknown assailants and dumping of bodies in the canals have been reported in the area in the past.
The bodies of 67 people have been recovered from the canals in the last six years.
Three days ago, the body of an unidentified woman was recovered from the canal in Jaranwala.
Rescuers took the body out of the canal and informed the police. The police are searching for the woman's family.
Lovebirds jump into canal to commit suicide
Reportedly, the citizens are in a state of panic over the incidents of bodies being recovered from canals in Faisalabad and its environs.
Sources revealed that most of the bodies recovered from the canals were of women. They were killed over domestic disputes, thrown into canals or committed suicide by jumping into a canal out of frustration with their situation.
Reportedly, 45 bodies of women and 22 of men were recovered in the last six years.
The unidentified bodies were retrieved from the canals by Rescue 1122 personnel and handed over to the police.
As many as 13 bodies were retrieved from the canals in 2015, 17 in 2016, nine in 2017, 15 in 2018, 18 during 2019 and eight in the first six months of the current year.
Most of the victims had been killed with sharp instruments, strangulated or shot dead. Rescue 1122 often receives reports from citizens regarding unidentified bodies. The bodies are handed over to the police.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, SSP Operations Syed Ali Raza said that initially, solving the cases of unidentified bodies often proved to be a major challenge for the police.
“Sometimes when the boundaries of the police stations are changed, the task of finding the relatives and registering cases, arresting the accused and bringing them to justice is very time consuming and complicated,” he said.
“However, the teams of the police have so far diligently traced the heirs of more than 75% of the unidentified bodies, registered the cases as per the law and arrested the accused,” Raza added.
The SSP maintained that if the body found in the canal is not very old, the heirs are likely to be found after verification from the National Database and Registration Authority of the fingerprints.
Young man jumps to death in canal
He highlighted that if the body is found after a longer period following the death, identifying it becomes a big challenge for the police. “Professional police teams consist of competent and trained officers ready to protect the citizens,” he said.
Sources said the police had identified 49 of the 67 bodies found in canals in the area during the past six years.
The heirs of the remaining bodies have not been found and it has been claimed that they were kept in cold storage and used for medical students' practical training. However, the police and hospital administrations refused to comment on the matter.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 17th, 2020.