Dead man walking: Man ‘buried’ by family found in police custody

Family puts ‘Majeed’ to rest only to receive a call from police the next day informing them that Majeed was in custody

KARACHI:

In what could be described as a moment in twilight zone, a young man who was ‘buried’ by his family on December 25 was produced in court by the police. 

Abdul Majeed reportedly went missing a few days ago and his family started looking for him at different hospitals and police stations. Finally they ended up at Edhi morgue where the family, including Majeed’s father and wife, identified the body. Amid tears and dozens of mourners, the family put ‘Majeed’ to rest only to receive a phone call from the police the next day informing them that Majeed was in their custody and facing charges for carrying a weapon.

The puzzling - to say the least - story unfolded at the court of the judicial magistrate, East who could not stop wondering, “What about the man who has been buried?”

The police brought Majeed before the magistrate for harassing people at Sharae Faisal on December 26 where he had allegedly gone to buy alcohol.

According to officials at Tipu Sultan police station, some people got hold of Majeed and started thrashing him. After a police van reached the spot, Majeed was reportedly arrested and a gun was found in his possession. An FIR has been registered against Majeed under section 13-D, which deals with carrying weapons.

As the family claimed the man standing in court as their own, the magistrate asked, “What sort of father or wife mistakes another man as their son or husband and buries him?”

Majeed’s father, Abdul Sattar, was still trying to come to terms with the uncanny resemblance between his son and the unidentified man who was buried. “We took the body home from the morgue after making sure that it was our boy. Family members, neighbours and friends - everyone recognised him as our Abdul Majeed,” said Sattar.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 28^th, 2012.