Custodial killing: Police accused of torturing suspect to death

Police say the suspect died from a cardiac arrest.


Shamsul Islam December 15, 2013
Police say the suspect died from a cardiac arrest. PHOTO: FILE.

FAISALABAD:


A man suspected of robbery died in policy custody on Friday allegedly from torture at Jaranwala City police station.


The deceased, Aashiq Hussain, a resident of Farooq Park, had been arrested two weeks ago. His wife, Nadra Parveen, told the media that Aashiq had died due to “severe torture.” “The police did not record the arrest at the time… they tortured to force him to confess to a crime he had not committed,” she said.

Parveen said Hussain was not taken to a hospital even when his condition deteriorated. “He died because he was tortured and not provided medical treatment,” she alleged. City Police Officer (CPO) Dr Haider Ashraf said Hussain and his two sons had been nominated in a theft case. He said the men had been declared proclaimed offenders. “Hussain was finally arrested on Wednesday but his sons are still at large,” he said.

The CPO said Hussain had suffered from a heart disease and had had a chronic cardiac arrest at the police station.

“The police took him to a hospital where he died.”

Ashraf said he had already ordered an enquiry as to why the arrest was not entered in the police register. “Strict action will be taken against policemen found guilty,” he said. Meanwhile Ashiq Hussain’s family protested against the police in front of the Jaranwala City. They insisted that the body bore torture marks.

The protest resulted in police registering cases against investigation in-charge Abdur Rehman and Constables Zulfiqar Ali and Muhammad Yaseen.The case was registered on Parveen’s complaint.

The body was taken to a mortuary at Allied Hospital, Faisalabad for postmortem, police said.

“There are some signs of torture on the body of the deceased…but the cause of the death can only be fixed after the chemical tests,” the mortuary incharge said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15th, 2013.

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