Revenge massacre: 9 victims laid to rest
The heavy downpour in Rawalpindi on Saturday could not wash away the anger and grief as Nazar Abbas buried nine members of his family, including five women and four children.
Late on Friday, some members of the Rab Nawaz group had assailed the walls of Abbas’s house - their rival over a land dispute - in the Miyal village on the outskirts of Rawalpindi. The assailants lined up his family and sprayed them with automatic gunfire.
Nine people were left dead including seven-year-old Iman Fatima, nine-year-old Farhan and 13-year-old Ghazala, and 16-year-old Sabiha. Others who were killed included Saleem Akhtar, Nisar bibi, Sidra Bibi, Azra Bibi, and Abida Shaheen. Only Noor, Usman and Ibrahim survived the attack, while Nawaz was not home.
As news of the incident spread, a heavy contingent of the police, led by Rawalpindi Regional Police Officer (RPO) Sohail Habib Tajik, City Police Officer (CPO) Ahsan Younus along with squads of elite commandos and forensic experts rushed to the crime scene.
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After completing an autopsy and other medico-legal formalities, the authorities handed Abbas the bodies of his family members. They were laid to rest in their native graveyard in Miyal amidst a large crowd of relatives, locals and the police.
Abbas, who is the head of his family, said that the incident was the result of an old enmity between his family and that of the suspects. He added that the bone of contention was that some 18 months ago, his rivals had killed a member of their family.
However, some other members of the Abbas family, including Tasawwar and Jamal, contradicted this and said that their enmity with the Rab Nawaz group was not so intense that it would trigger such a brutal response that not even the kids were spared.
Outside the DHQ, CPO Younus said they had registered an FIR against Rab Nawaz, his son Danish and 10 abettors as soon as Abbas filed a complaint with them. He added that they had included clauses of the anti-terrorism act in the FIR.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 26th, 2020.