Man held for exhuming bodies

Suspect has been involved in prior incidents of grave desecration

LAHORE:

A man allegedly involved in digging up the bodies of minors was arrested by Sanda police on Wednesday.

Gravekeeper Riaz Ghaus said in his statement before the police said that around 8:00 pm on Tuesday night, he spotted three suspects digging up a grave. He raised a hue and cry, upon which two of the suspects ran away. However, the third suspect, identified as Usman alias Mani, was captured.

The suspect had reportedly dug up the grave and exhumed the body, which was that of a minor. Taking cognizance of the matter, police arrested the suspect.

During the investigation it came forth that between five and six other incidents had been reported in graveyards in Sanda and Guslhan e Ravi. Usman was found involved in all of them.

Initial investigations suggested that the suspect would attend the funeral prayers of children and later exhume the bodies, placing it a few yards away from the grave.

Usman would reportedly then approach the family of the deceased and tell them not to worry, as he had removed the body and placed it safely. He would also request them not to bury the child again.

Suspecting mental instability, police engaged a psychologist who interviewed the suspect. The psychologist noted that he was suffering from a mental illness.

During the interview, the suspect disclosed that he did not like putting soil or dirt on the body of a minor. A voice in his mind would advise him so, he explained.

Usman worked as a manual worker in a vegetable market and is known to possess other odd habits, like wearing a shoe on only one foot.

Police have registered a case under Section 297 (Trespassing on burial places, etc.) of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

It reads, "Whoever, with the intention of wounding the feelings of any person, or of insulting the religion of any person, or with the knowledge that the feelings of any person are likely to be wounded, or that the religion of any person is likely to be insulted thereby, commits any trespass in any place of worship or on any place of sculpture, or any place set apart for the performance of funeral rites or as a, depository for the remains of the dead, or offers any indignity to any human corpse or causes disturbance to any persons assembled for the performance of funeral ceremonies, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both".

Police were investigating the matter further.

Offences of desecration of graves of a two-year-old baby girl and a 20-year-old woman sent shock waves across the districts of Okara and Gujrat last year.

According to Okara DPO Faisal Gulzar, Zainab, a two-year-old daughter of Malik Yasir, a resident of Sher Rabbani Town, had died a week ago and was buried in the local Ghore Shah graveyard.

When the baby girl's father Yasir went to the graveyard the day after the burial, he found the grave desecrated.

When the dust was removed from the grave, the shroud of the deceased was found to be missing, and the miscreant had put lipstick on the baby’s face.

The grief-stricken family arrived at the conclusion that the baby’s body had been taken out of the grave by someone for witchcraft.

They immediately reported the matter to the police. Following the media coverage of the case, Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz took notice of the incident and demanded a report from DPO Faisal Gulzar.

On the orders of DPO, police arrested two accused allegedly involved in the incident and registered a case.

The accused were identified as Naeem and Saleem. DPO Faisal Gulzar said that police teams had been formed to investigate the matter.

The girl's DNA would also be taken to ascertain if the child had been taken out of the grave for witchcraft or for any other sinister motive.

Police were interrogating the suspects. A woman relative of Zainab's said that when she bathed the girl again, she found that one of her legs had been broken and there was blood under it.

On the other hand, in the preliminary investigation of the police, the accused had allegedly confessed to the crime, saying that they had removed the body of the girl from the grave for witchcraft.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5^th, 2023.