Magistrate orders exhumation of domestic worker's body

HAFIZABAD:

A judicial magistrate has ordered the exhumation and post-mortem of a domestic worker who allegedly died after being tortured by influential landlords.

Judicial Magistrate Ali Raza directed the Medical Superintendent of DHQ Hospital to constitute a medical board for the examination, which is scheduled for August 16.

According to police, a few days ago, landlord Syed Najamul Hassan Shirazi and others allegedly beat their domestic worker, Waseem Riaz, and forced him to swallow poisonous pills, resulting in his death.

A case was registered against Shirazi and six other suspects at the City Police Station, but no arrests have been made in the four days since the incident.

Relatives of the deceased staged a protest, alleging that the burial was carried out without legal formalities or a post-mortem examination. They pointed to a video recorded by Riaz from an ambulance, in which he described the torture in detail.

The medical board will conduct the post-mortem on August 16, as per the court's directions. Earlier on August 10, a 23-year-old domestic worker in Hafizabad's Akhtar Town allegedly died from severe torture, triggering public outrage after his burial without a post-mortem examination.

Police and local sources said, the victim, Waseem Riaz, a resident of Rahgo Sayedan village, was employed at the home of Syed Najamul Hassan Shirazi.

Waseem's condition reportedly deteriorated following torture and he died while being taken to a hospital in Lahore. In a dying declaration, Waseem claimed he had been mercilessly beaten and thrown onto the roof of the house. He also urged that his parents and sisters be looked after.

The body was transported to the DHQ Hospital Hafizabad for a post-mortem, but despite hours of waiting in an ambulance and protests from family members, no examination was conducted. The body was later buried overnight without an autopsy.