Inmate subjected to custodial torture at Haripur jail: family

Beating inmates with curled wires is ‘modus operandi’ of police at most facilities in the district, say prison sources

HARIPUR:

The family of an under-trial prisoner (UTP) has accused authorities at the Haripur prison of mistreatment of inmates and sought the intervention of rights organisations to end custodial torture.

According to the family member, who requested anonymity for the ‘protection’ of the inmate, said that the police first arrested their relative on false charges ‘after planting drugs on his person’ and now he was being tortured in prison ‘to extract money’.

The mother of the inmate told The Express Tribune that her son suffered from bronchitis and other respiratory issues. “They beat him black and blue,” she said. The woman said she visited her son three days ago. “He said he lost consciousness,” she added.

Sources at the Hairpur jail said that the inmate was transferred to the prison's medical facility for an ‘urgent medical examination’. They said that beating prisoners with curled wires the ‘modus operandi’ of the police at most police facilities in the district. “He was likely subjected to it as well to convince him that he needed to pay for protection.”

The inmate’s family said that he was a small-time entrepreneur running a shop.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 17^th, 2023.