Couple allegedly manhandled by cops

Family says police locked them up along with their children

ABBOTTABAD:

A couple has alleged that they were manhandled by police deployed for the prime minister’s protocol and security duty in Nathiagali on July 24.

The couple, who were identified as Ikram and S*, alleged that the police not only manhandled them but also put them behind bars at the Dungagali Police Station for eight hours and registered an FIR against them before they were released on bail.

Ikram and his wife said that they were locked up along with their driver at a police station where no female staff was present and male cops allegedly tortured and harassed them for hours in the presence of the Station House Officer Muhammad Ali.

“We need justice for our family. While travelling on 24th July 2021 at 3 pm, my sister with her family was stopped at Nathiagali to travel further with a statement that no one can proceed because the prime minister is going to travel on this road. After waiting so long, they (the family) asked for permission as my sister was not well. The tired and frustrated jawan of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa got aggressive, shouted and hit my brother-in-law and his nose started bleeding. When his wife resisted, they also manhandled her,” claimed by one, Munazza Abbasi, in her tweet at the wee hours on Sunday.

According to the eyewitnesses, the couple, residents of Abbottabad, was going to Nathiagali on July 24 July along with a driver, their two children and a disabled person when traffic warden, Nadeem, allegedly shouted at them and hit Ikram in the presence of SHO Muhammad Ali. Later, the police shifted the couple to the Dungagali Police Station and put them and the driver behind bars for four hours while keeping the children in the car.

When contacted, Dungagali SHO Muhammad Ali said that he had just returned from the PM protocol duty and he was trying to resolve the issue. When asked about the FIR and detention of the couple and the driver for hours, he blatantly replied that he was not compelled to give a reply to anyone.

SSP Traffic Qamar Hayat Khan, who was also in Nathiagali at the time of the incident, told The Express Tribune that he said that the SHO Dungagali had been directed to resolve the issue amicably.

Hayat claimed that Ikram’s wife had been threatening the police officials of lodging a complaint against them at the highest forum and later shouted at them at the police station which led to further compounding the situation.

According to the FIR registered against the couple, Ikram manhandled the traffic warden on duty, which was tantamount to interfering in the affairs of government under section 353, 186,506. 337 A/ 34.

The police refused to entertain a complaint of Ikram against traffic warden Nadeem, accusing him of using abusive language and manhandling him.

Although the magistrate on duty accepted the bail application of the couple and the driver, the family vowed to fight their legal right and demanded police high-ups to registered a case against traffic warden Nadeem, Ilyas and Malik Jawad, who according to them, harassed and tortured the woman during the eight hours of illegal detention at the Dungagali Police Station.

Talking to journalists, Ikram and his wife alleged that Illyas, Malik Jawad and one another police personal continuously harassed and threatened her till the time she fell unconscious. They further said that their 6-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son spent the night in their car outside the Dungagali Police Station.

According to them, the woman got unconscious because she was already going through a testing time after losing her newborn baby via a C-section a few weeks back.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 27^th, 2021.