Homicide or suicide?: Relatives demand murder case registered against police
Medical board delays autopsy report by a day; civil society call for fresh post-mortem.
Medical board delays autopsy report by a day; civil society call for fresh post-mortem. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Relatives of a man who died in police custody at the Kohsar police station on Tuesday filed a complaint with the same police station to register a murder case against the police, alleging the man was tortured to death by the law-enforcement authorities.
Meanwhile, a medical board constituted to prepare the autopsy report of the deceased, Sabir Masih, failed to deliver the report on Wednesday — the due date.
Polyclinic medico-legal officer Dr Tanveer, a member of the medical board, said two of the board’s five members were unavailable on Wednesday. He said the report will be ready on Thursday.
Masih, 32, was found dead in the Kohsar police station’s lock-up on Tuesday. He was on physical remand after being arrested on February 5 on suspicion of stealing batteries from signboards in Jinnah Super Market.
Police claimed Masih committed suicide in the toilet inside the lock-up by hanging himself from a ventilator rod using the drawstring of his shalwar. However, Masih’s family alleged he was tortured brutally during the police remand. Masih’s body was shifted to the Polyclinic Hospital after the police said they were alerted to his death by three other inmates who shared the lock-up with Masih.
Masih’s uncle Karamat said they found wounds on Masih’s head and bruises on his shoulders and feet after the body was handed over to the family, claims that were denied by Dr Tanveer, who said the initial check of the body only revealed strangulation marks around Masih’s neck.
Tanveer said the five-member medical board, which consists of doctors from Polyclinic and Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, includes forensic specialist Dr Naseer and will likely issue the post-mortem report on Thursday morning.
After a public protest by Masih’s relatives and Islamabad’s Christian community outside the police station on Tuesday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan also ordered a judicial inquiry into the case.
Senior police officials said the judicial inquiry is being conducted and police will take actions based on the inquiry’s findings in a transparent manner.
Senior Superintendent of Police Muhammad Rizwan gave similar assurances to the family of the deceased when he and other police officers visited them on Wednesday, according to Karamat.
“He told us the police will register a first information report (FIR) addressing our concerns,” Karamat said. “We have lodged a complaint with the Kohsar police against the police station’s personnel for torturing Sabir to death.”
Police officers at the station refused to comment on the case and did not confirm if the FIR had been registered.
Karamat said his family will not bury his nephew’s body until the FIR is registered.
Masih’s family said he was a Capital Development Authority sanitation working and is survived by a wife and two daughters.
The capital’s civil society organisations have also voiced their support for Masih and his family. In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, the organisations demanded a “fresh, independent post mortem” from a private hospital. They also called for Christian and civil society presence on the panel conducting the judicial inquiry.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 13th, 2014.
Relatives of a man who died in police custody at the Kohsar police station on Tuesday filed a complaint with the same police station to register a murder case against the police, alleging the man was tortured to death by the law-enforcement authorities.
Meanwhile, a medical board constituted to prepare the autopsy report of the deceased, Sabir Masih, failed to deliver the report on Wednesday — the due date.
Polyclinic medico-legal officer Dr Tanveer, a member of the medical board, said two of the board’s five members were unavailable on Wednesday. He said the report will be ready on Thursday.
Masih, 32, was found dead in the Kohsar police station’s lock-up on Tuesday. He was on physical remand after being arrested on February 5 on suspicion of stealing batteries from signboards in Jinnah Super Market.
Police claimed Masih committed suicide in the toilet inside the lock-up by hanging himself from a ventilator rod using the drawstring of his shalwar. However, Masih’s family alleged he was tortured brutally during the police remand. Masih’s body was shifted to the Polyclinic Hospital after the police said they were alerted to his death by three other inmates who shared the lock-up with Masih.
Masih’s uncle Karamat said they found wounds on Masih’s head and bruises on his shoulders and feet after the body was handed over to the family, claims that were denied by Dr Tanveer, who said the initial check of the body only revealed strangulation marks around Masih’s neck.
Tanveer said the five-member medical board, which consists of doctors from Polyclinic and Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, includes forensic specialist Dr Naseer and will likely issue the post-mortem report on Thursday morning.
After a public protest by Masih’s relatives and Islamabad’s Christian community outside the police station on Tuesday, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan also ordered a judicial inquiry into the case.
Senior police officials said the judicial inquiry is being conducted and police will take actions based on the inquiry’s findings in a transparent manner.
Senior Superintendent of Police Muhammad Rizwan gave similar assurances to the family of the deceased when he and other police officers visited them on Wednesday, according to Karamat.
“He told us the police will register a first information report (FIR) addressing our concerns,” Karamat said. “We have lodged a complaint with the Kohsar police against the police station’s personnel for torturing Sabir to death.”
Police officers at the station refused to comment on the case and did not confirm if the FIR had been registered.
Karamat said his family will not bury his nephew’s body until the FIR is registered.
Masih’s family said he was a Capital Development Authority sanitation working and is survived by a wife and two daughters.
The capital’s civil society organisations have also voiced their support for Masih and his family. In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, the organisations demanded a “fresh, independent post mortem” from a private hospital. They also called for Christian and civil society presence on the panel conducting the judicial inquiry.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 13th, 2014.