Unsettled matter: Widow of deceased head constable awaits pension

Policemen deny the widow's spouse was ever a serving member at Balakot station

MANSEHRA:

The widow of a head constable, who is said to have died during the earthquake in Balakot in 2005, has failed to get the pension of her late husband. However, policemen deny her spouse was ever a serving member at Balakot station.

While speaking to journalists, Najabun Nisa, widow of Sardar Shah of Oghi, said her husband was a head police constable and died when the building of Balakot police station collapsed during the earthquake on October 8, 2005. She added after her husband’s death, she was given a bank draft of Rs 100,000.

Najabun Nisa said that she has two grown-up daughters and they live in a rented house. “To make a living, I work as a domestic employee in different houses in the area where I live.”

When asked, a Balakot police official said on October 8, 2005 only four policemen were martyred. He said there was no record of Shah being on duty there. The official said Shah could be an employee of Frontier Reserve Police. However, Najabun Nisa questions if her husband was not in the police then why was she given a bank draft of Rs100,000.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2015.