Landlord tortures family for failing to repay debt

Police arrest four people accused for failing to pay off their debt and the accused have appealed for justice.

SHEHR RASOOL NAGAR: Influential landlords tortured a farmer, his wife, children and guests for not paying off an old debt. Police arrested four people accused for failing to pay off their debt and the accused have appealed for justice.

According to police officials at the Alipur Chatha police station, Kotli Miani resident Chaudhery Nisar Ahmed had hired Muhammad Wazir and his family to work for him nearly three years ago. Ahmed gave the family a Rs216,000 loan a couple of years ago and demanded that the family return his money on Friday.

The poor farmer could not manage to pay off the debt in time and Ahmed threatened him with dire consequences. “He hardly gave us any notice that he would be asking for the money back and I didn’t have enough time to come up with such a large amount,” said Muhammad Wazir. Nisar Ahmed, who is a local landlord, broke into Muhammad Wazir’s house and tortured his guests Mussarat Rani, Uzma Rani, Nusrat Rani, Sonia Rani and Bashir Sardar and several children with several accomplices. The men allegedly abused women in the house and tore their clothes. The police registered a case and arrested four accused Inamullah, Amanullah, Bashir Ahmed and Osama. Station house officer (SHO) Rana Sajad Ahmed said that police officials had arrested four accused and would soon arrest the remaining men involved in the abuse. The affected family have appealed to the chief justice of Pakistan and the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for assistance.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2010.