Burning confessions: 16-year-old set on fire by police officials
A 16-year-old implicated in a theft case was severely tortured and set on fire by police officials on Saturday.
Dozens of people protested against the incident outside the police station on Saturday evening and said that Nishatabad police had held Azeem illegally on theft charges four days ago.
“They just took him without any justification and held him indefinitely. We had no word of his condition and we heard that he was being tortured,” said Azeem’s uncle Haris Khan.
During the interrogation, the accused was severely tortured and a police source told reporters that the boy had been strung up from the ceiling and whipped. “When he refused to admit to the crime, they sprinkled petrol on him and set him on fire,” he said. Police officials tried to get Azeem to confess to being part of a motorcycle-lifters’ gang but he refused. “The gang has been lifting dozens of bikes in the city and three of the bikes belong to police officials at this station,” the source said.
Azeem was shifted to Allied Hospital in critical condition and doctors have said that the boy has suffered over 35 per cent burns to his body. “He is in critical condition and has suffered third degree burns. His condition is worse because he already had open wounds because of the whipping. The wounds have festered,” Dr Azam Shah said.
Azeem told reporters that he belonged to a poor family and had no source of income. He said that he had been falsely implicated in two motorcycle lifting cases. “They wanted me to confess to crimes I hadn’t committed. They even said that I should admit to them if I hadn’t done anything because at this point it would ‘look bad for them’ to let me go,” he told reporters before he collapsed at the hospital. The district police officer (DPO) Rao Tahir Hussain said that he had taken notice of the tragic incident and launched an inquiry. “I have ordered the suspension of assistant superintendent (ASI) Saeed Anwar for setting fire to the boy. This is unforgivable and we are also looking into anyone else who may have been involved,” he said.
A formal inquiry has been ordered and Superintendent Police (SP) Madina Town Samad Qamar has been asked to file a report in this regard within 48 hours.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 9th, 2011.
COMMENTS (10)
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Even if the boy was a thief, everything done to him was unjustified. The police officer should be burned over and over again.
Uhm, when did this become about muslims or non-muslims..? Police brutality has more to do with institutionalised corruption, greed and a general desensitisation bred by poverty and a lack of power. I'd say this is more of that than a question of religion as evidenced by the alarming cases of police brutality spread across the subcontinent and parts of central asia and the middle east.
World is at 2011 where muslims live in stone ages. Those good days of accomplishments which made us proud are long gone and they are not coming back.
This can only happen in Pakistan where Qadri is showered with roses and teenagers are set on fire and lynched! The perpetrators must be American, Indian or Israeli agents, and definitely non-Muslims. However, nobody hears this kind of news in this frequency in the other countries, why? When would Punjab govt of Sharif stop supporting the families of terrorists and not control their police killing the innocent kids?
Just a suspension? I say light up the assistant superintendent on fire as well. He probably deserves it more than this child did.
Well it is really dangerous signs . I wonder what Mr Saeed Anwar was thinking . I can understand this treatment for a hardened criminal but 16 year old i am out of words. I think the physiological evaluation is must in this case. I wonder if this is the case of the police than where would people go for justice. The perfect case for the chief justice to take suo motto notice.
Punjab Police!!! So much of the good governance!
How disgusting. That's no way to treat a prisoner. Even if he had committed a theft, this is totally unjustified and an act of gross barbarism. I'm honestly disturbed by the number of crimes committed by police officials and the lack of action taken against them.
I'll start to scream if somebody says that the perpetrators cannot be "true Muslims". !! Patha nahin kaun si duniya mein rehte hain ye log. Musalmaan hi aise cheezein kar rahe hain aaj kal.
Yeah a formal inquiry that will never see sunlight....