Brutal attack: Landlord sets dogs onto labourer for asking for wages

Police say they won’t take action till he submits a medical examination report.

FAISALABAD:

A landlord set his dogs onto a tenant after he asked for his wages on Wednesday. The victim was taken to a hospital where doctors admitted him to the intensive care unit. They said his condition was serious.

Muhammad Rafiq, an uncle of the victim, told The Express Tribune that Mazhar Iqbal, a resident of Abbaspura, had been working on Mehr Muhammad Yousaf’s fields for five years.

He said his family lived in abject poverty.



“A few days ago, Iqbal’s wife fell ill and he needed money to buy medicines for her, so he went to Yousaf’s haveli to ask for his salary.”

At the haveli, Yousaf signalled to his son Muhammad Jabbar to let a pack of dogs loose on Iqbal, Rafiq said.

“The dogs attacked viciously and bit him all over,” he said, “While Yousaf and Jabbar stood by laughing and cracking jokes.”

Upon hearing his screams for help, several people in the area gathered at the scene and pulled the dogs away from Iqbal, he said.



They took him to the Bhowana tehsil headquarters hospital where doctors treating him said that his condition was serious but they were doing their best to save his life, Rafiq said.

“We filed a complaint with the Bhowana police. The landlord and his son have not been arrested nor is the police willing to take any action against them,” he said.

The Bhowana SHO said, “We have advised Iqbal to get a medical examination report. We will take action after they file the medico-legal report to us.”

When asked why the men had not been arrested so far, the station house officer said, “We have constituted a police team to arrest them. The men are at large but we are looking for them.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 22^nd, 2015.