ATC sends Bhakkar cannibals on seven-day physical remand

Police also install barbed wire outside house of cannibal brothers.


Web Desk April 15, 2014
Arif, arrested on suspicion of cannibalism, is escorted to a police station in Bhakkar district on April 14, 2014. PHOTO: AFP

BHAKKAR: An anti-terrorism court in Sargodha sent the now infamous ‘Bhakkar cannibals’ on a seven-day physical remand, just a day after it was discovered that they were back to consuming human flesh, Express News reported on Tuesday.

The police also installed barbed wire outside the house of the brothers.

The brothers were first arrested in 2011 and after serving time in prison, they were released and allowed to return to their village.

Police had arrested Arif, one of the two brothers, when the head of a toddler was recovered from their derelict home in Kahawar Kalan town near Darya Khan. Officials had conducted a raid when neighbours complained of a putrid stench emanating from the two-bedroom house.

Arif confessed to having cooked and eaten the rest of the body. Although he frequently changed statements, he admitted that the two have been eating human flesh since they were released.

His brother Farman had managed to flee, but was later arrested by police.

A new case under Article 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act; Article 16 of the Maintenance of Public Order as well as 201, 297 and 295-A was registered against the accused in which the police is complainant.

Background

The brothers had returned to the neighbourhood 10 months ago after being released from prison, where they had served a term for stealing and consuming the remains of a girl from the graveyard in 2011.

The trial continued for approximately two years, culminating in a year-long prison term and Rs200,000 fine each.  While the sentence ended in May 2013, the brothers were released two months later as they had been incarcerated during the length of the trial.

Last year, during his visit to the Mianwali prison where the brothers were held, then chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry said that the inmates languishing in jails despite having served sentences should be released after the government arranges their fine. Arif and Farman were subsequently discharged.

COMMENTS (24)

Okara bull | 10 years ago | Reply They must have been hungry, in fairness... With food prices being what they are, what can you do? but if u have money as reported,, Couldn't not they just have had a cheese sandwich? ..... .. ...Or think this is only the starters, folks, when people run out of natural resources and food... I hope none of us will live till that day. Population growth is uncontrollable 3rd world countries like Pakistan especially highly populated,
Raj - USA | 10 years ago | Reply @PatG: Your comment: "@unbelievable: While it makes my tummy churn, I’m nit prepared to categorize this as heinous, or even appaling. Strange and sickening, maybe; but I’ll reserve my outrage and moral indignation for crimes in which I can identify a victim, thank you very much." @unbelievable also highlighted the sick minds prevailing in Pakistan in a different way. @PatG: I fully endorse your comment. It is most sickening to see minor girls kidnaped from their homes and brought to homes that claim they are religious. These girls are then raped repeatedly there and all family members participate, appreciate and associate in these acts. Even courts provide facility, legal cover and justifications for these acts. Which decent family or neighborhood will allow this? We also saw the media trying to enact a live performance to increase TV ratings as it has so much wide-spread support in Pakistan. Pakistan's society is mentally sick beyond imagination. The society can be judged by the type of laws it makes and also the way they enforce the laws. In Pakistan, they have laws like blasphemy, laws that allow child marriages, laws that allow kidnapping young girls from their homes and taking them to muslim homes, multiple marriages where consent of prior wife is not required, easy 1,2,3 divorce ........ all claiming to have religious sanction or requirement. Pakistan can never get rid of these laws because each one has its own devious purpose but no one can say anything for reasons that everyone knows.
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