Faith healer ‘severely tortures’ young man

Family of victim were told to return with more money

LAHORE:

A ‘spiritual healer’ allegedly subjected a youth to sever torture in Shahdara on Tuesday.

The family of 23-year-old Shan Mehmood had taken the man to the faith healer in Jameel Park area of Shahdara.

The suspect, Sonay Shah, reportedly asked the family to leave the man at his place after charging Rs10,000 and asked the family to bring more money.

When the family returned, they found out that the suspect had subjected the victim to severe torture. His three or four accomplices also thrashed the victim.

The family complained to the police who have registered a case and are investigating the matter further.

Several incidents of fraud, exploitation and violence involving faith healers have been reported in the past.

47 incidents last year: Surge in violence against women

Two years back, a woman clubbed her children to death in Imamia Colony near Shahdara reportedly over whims of a spiritual leader. She had promised a sacrifice for the financial welfare of the poor family.

A similar case was reported in Qila Gujjar Singh few years back. A woman chained her two children in a house and subjected them to severe abuse. The reason was reported to be a promise of financial wellbeing.

Three years back a group of people had been arrested in Misri Shah after they had travelled to Lahore from Sindh and were caught red-handed in a bid to shift the body of their spiritual leader to their town. They claimed during investigations that their spiritual leader had asked for the move.

In a major incident, at least 20 people were clubbed to death in Sargodha by a ‘spiritual leader’ in 2017.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2021.