Two police officials have been suspended for torturing a boy in illegal custody.
Station House Officer (SHO) Sikander-e-Azam and Constable Javed Chaudary have been suspended for their alleged involvement in the incident, Senior Superintendant of Police Chaudary Hussain told The Express Tribune on Tuesday.
Eleven-year-old Waqas* was reportedly arrested four days back during a marriage ceremony in Lahore, when the hall management accused him of picking a guest’s pocket and handed him over to the police. The management alleged that it caught the boy red-handed while his accomplice managed to escape from the scene.
Waqas told the investigating officer that he had come to Mirpur on a car along with his friend Sabir, who is a professional pickpocket. He said that the police arrested him while he was attending a marriage ceremony with his friend. However, his fiend escaped from the scene, leaving his car and Khan behind.
“I am innocent and did not pick anyone’s pocket. My friend might have been involved in the crime but not me,” Waqas explained.
When reporters came to visit the police station on Monday, the boy told them that the policemen disrobed him and subjecting him to violence. He said that when his mother came from Lahore to inquire about his condition at the police station, the police officials thrashed her and pushed her out.
Waqas’s mother, requesting anonymity, told the media that when she went to meet her son at the police station, Constable Javed beat her up and tried to tear off her clothes. She accused Javed of kicking her out of the station and demanding Rs0.2 million for her son’s release.
When asked why the police did no register an FIR against the boy, a duty officer told reporters on the condition of anonymity that as no valuable was recovered from Waqas, the police could not register a case against him.
The car which was impounded by the police from outside the marriage hall was also missing from the station. Police sources said that the car is being used by Javed.
Meanwhile, Deputy Superintendent of Police City Raja Azhar Iqbal has been appointed as the inquiry officer to probe into the incident and submit a report before Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Inspector General of Police (IGP) Tariq Khokhar for further action.
*Name has been changed to protect identity
Published in The Express Tribune, July 4th, 2012.
Correction: Earlier, the name of the boy was mistakenly added in the photo caption. The name has been removed.
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