Ex-LG candidate commits suicide after alleged police torture
Till earlier this year, Noman’s ambitions included serving the public as a member of the local government. Fast forward a few weeks and the man took his own life after allegedly being tortured and humiliated by the police, family sources claimed on Tuesday.
They said police had picked up Faizan, the son of Chan Muhammad and Noman’s brother, from Sector I of Khalabat Township in connection with a robbery case.
Locals shared a grab from CCTV footage which helped in identifying the robbers. However, Faizan managed to escape from their custody. Little did he know his actions would end up in fatal consequences not for him, but for Noman.
Collective responsibility?
In a classic case of guilt by association, police subsequently arrested 28-year-old Noman, a former candidate for a youth councillor seat. The law enforcers allegedly humiliated and tortured him during unrecorded detention for a couple of hours.
Noman, who worked on a poultry farm, was released on the request of a local influential figure. However, when he returned from work on Monday afternoon, the police reportedly raided his residence once again and ransacked the premises without a search warrant. The man was taken into custody for the second time and was subjected to torture yet again, sources added.
He was set free in the evening on the condition that he would turn Faizan in. While heading home after yet another humiliating ordeal, Noman met his friends and shared the inhumane treatment meted out by the police. He told his friends that he has lost purpose in life and is left with no choice
but to kill himself.
but to kill himself.
Ending it all
An hour later, he brought home a poisonous substance and consumed it in his room. The family shifted him to the Women and Children Hospital from where the doctors referred him to Ayub Medical Complex, Abbottabad. However, he died on the way.
Family members and locals took the body back to Haripur where they protested by placing the body in the middle of GT Road and demanded the registration of an FIR against Khalabat Township SHO. After half an hour, protesters dispersed when district naib nazim Agha Shabir assured them of an enquiry. When approached for comments, Khalabat Township police denied torturing Noman and added the raid was carried out to hunt down Faizan. They confirmed the latter was wanted in a robbery case. Police claimed Noman misbehaved at the residence and was briefly taken into custody before being released.
Separate incident
Earlier this week, three teenage boys from Aslam Colony in Haripur accused City police of unrecorded detention and torture for five days. The complainant, Ali Raza, his brother Qaisar and a neighbour Waseem, lodged the complaint with a judicial magistrate, seeking medical examination and registration of a case. However, the magistrate rejected the complaint. The three men have now moved the court of a district and sessions judge in Haripur.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 23rd, 2015.