Mianwali grapples with horror of fratricide

Fifty-one such incidents took place in district in just a year

MIANWALI:

The number of fratricidal killings has increased in the district over the past few years.

This is a trend that worries and overwhelms everyone. It is different from the nature of crime incidents that took place in the past.

Ten years ago most of the people killed in the Mianwali district were the result of tribalism and communalism. Inter-tribal and inter-communal enmities lasted for decades in which rival groups killed each other from time to time.

However, the situation has changed drastically in Mianwali.

For the last few years, incidents of fratricidal killings have increased manifold. Fifty-one such incidents took place in the district in a year alone.

It seems that patience and endurance even within families have become a matter of the past.

At least 49 people have been killed over enmity, and 54 people committed suicide.

This week, a man killed his brother over a minor altercation, and then he shot himself as well.

In Jhabri area of the district, another man killed his younger brother and then he also shot himself.

Mohammad Fayyaz and his brother Mohammad Riaz quarreled over a minor matter at home upon which Fayyaz shot his younger brother dead. Later, Fayyaz also shot himself.

Fayyaz had been working in Bahrain and was visiting Mianwali on leave.

In another incident, a man took his brother to a desert where he killed him.

Talking about this case, the SP (Investigation), Captain (Retd.) Qazi Ali Raza, told The Express Tribune that on the night of 10 February, a call was received on Rescue 15 that body of an unidentified man was found in Chaburanwala area of Musa Khel who had been shot dead.

Musa Khel police reached the spot and collected the evidence. The deceased was identified as Ataullah Khan. Musa Khel Police Station registered a murder case against unknown accused on the complaint of the deceased's father, Shaukat Khan.

A team was formed to solve the case.

“My team traced the case in two days by working hard day and night. The killer was the brother of deceased Ataullah, who was arrested,” said the SP.

Shifaullah told the police during the interrogation that his brother, Ataullah, had been addicted to drugs, and there used to be frequent quarrels in the house.

Commenting on the matter of fratricidal killings, a doctor, Liaquat Gilani, said that intolerance, intoxication and personal ego were the main factors behind the increase in cases of suicide and fratricide.

He said that education was essential for obviating this phenomenon.

Dr. Gilani said that it was also important to highlight the importance of relationships and the spirit of love.

Captain (Retd.) Qazi Ali Raza, while commenting on various incidents, said that the arrest of the accused involved in this incident of blind murder had proved that such people could not escape the law.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 17^th, 2022.