For 12 days, Sarah Rasheed Begum, the mother of the ill-fated youngster who fell off the State Life building while trying to escape from a fire, tried in vain to register a case with the police against the civic agencies. Finally there is some hope for the bereaved family.
Only after orders from the Sindh High Court, the police have registered a case against the suspects nominated by Rasheed Begum in her petition.
The deceased’s mother named the Karachi Electric Supply Company’s (KESC) chief executive officer, State Life building chief security in-charge, the security in-charge, building in-charge, civil defence’s director and deputy director and the in-charge of the KESC rescue team as the respondents, said Javed Chhatari, the plaintiff’s lawyer.
Owais Baig, a 22-year-old jobless man, kept on hanging at a window for about 10 to 15 minutes on November 28. Eventually, the exhausted man, who was there seeking a job, fell off the eighth floor and succumbed to his injuries.
Two days after the tragic incident, the SHC Chief Justice Mushir Alam taking suo motu notice summoned the provincial chief secretary, the Karachi chief fire officer and officers from the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and civil defence to explain why the man was not rescued.
Initiating formal proceedings, the two judges called comprehensive reports regarding safety measures taken at the State Life building, including the availability of fire exits and fire fighting equipment.
As the judges took up the case on Monday, Rasheed Begum told the bench about the government functionaries’ “completely callous attitude”. “My son kept on hanging for 20 minutes but no one bothered to save him. Despite repeated requests, even a case has not been registered,” she said. “The police say it is a case of suicide.”
Confronted by the judges as to why a case was not registered, Artillery Ground Additional SHO sub-inspector Fatteh Sher, failed to answer. The judges directed him to record the statement of the victim’s parents in the court and proceed with the case under the supervision of DIG Sultan Khawaja.
The judges directed Fatteh Sher to also submit his progress report on January 20, 2013.
All lawyers representing private parties and government authorities were directed to file comments within two weeks as a fresh notice was issued to the KESC CEO for January 20, 2013.
‘Negligence’ case
The FIR (129/12) against the suspects named in the plea was lodged under Section 322 (negligence) of the Pakistan Penal Code on behalf of Owais Baig’s father Abdul Rasheed Baig.
A KESC spokesperson told The Express Tribune that the inquiry of the cause of the fire and the incident is already in process. “We only have a rented office there, the [building] is owned by State Life,” he said. “The fire officer stated on the media that the building had proper fire safety system and emergency exits.”
With additional input by Faraz Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, December 11th, 2012.
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