Mob justice: ‘Pickpocket’ beaten up, paraded

‘We have punished him. There is no need for police to prosecute him’.

DERA GHAZI KHAN:

A teenager was beaten up and paraded with his hands tied to the back of a motorcycle and face painted black on Monday after he was allegedly caught picking a man’s pocket in a queue in front of the office of National Database and Registration Authority.

Witnesses said Bashir, 14, was detained at a shop near the NADRA office, where he was beaten up by Ramazan, the man who caught him, and other men. He was released after over an hour on the intervention of Civil Lines police.

The teenager was later let go by the men on said the beating and the parading was enough of a punishment for him. “He has been punished for his mischief. There is no need to hand him over to the police,” Ramzan said.

When asked if the police would take action against the people accused of beating the suspect and parading him, DSP Iqbal Chadya said they had not received any complaint.

Talking to The Express Tribune, the teenager said he had been picking pockets around the NADRA office for some months. He said this had been the first time he was caught.

He said he had started picking pockets to add to the meagre family income. “I had to leave school in eight grade,” he said.

Also on Monday, Farrukh Khosa, brother-in-law of Governor Latif Khosa, was deprived of Rs300,000 and his cell phone in Dera Ghazi Khan when his pocket was picked.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 17^th, 2012.