A father of five daughters died due to severe physical torture by police at Saddar Police Station in Sialkot. According to details, the deceased who was identified as Haji Faryad was in police custody since December 2, 2024. The man was a resident of village Sohwali. Soon after receiving the report, senior police officials immediately suspended SHO Ikram Shahbaz and also issued charge-sheet against him. Police also registered a case against him under Section 302 and started investigation. Earlier in August 2024, the Lahore High Court (LHC) ruled that it was the responsibility of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to investigate the allegations of torture, rape and murder in police custody.

In a 19-page verdict on the petition filed by Zubaida Qureshi against custodial torture, Justice Tariq Salim Sheikh wrote that Pakistan had signed the United Nations (UN) convention on torture and inhuman treatment in 2010. “And it was because of that that a bill against custodial torture was passed in Pakistan in 2022,” the judge said, adding in the same year the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) was assigned the task to ensure that there was no partiality in the application of the law.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)