05 June 2004	Saturday	16 Rabi-us-Saani 1425

BADIN, June 4: About a dozen women from the Bolo Mallah village in the Badin taluka on Thursday demonstrated here at the Shah Latif Road to protest against police action in their village.

They were carrying the dead body of a 20-day-old boy, Mohammad Ali Mallah, who, they said, had died of injuries sustained during the police action. They alleged that the Nando Shaher police had resorted to aerial firing and tear-gas shelling after conducting a raid on their houses on the pretext of recovering narcotics.

They accused the police of exceeding the law besides resorting to indecent behaviour during the raid. Protestors included Shabana Mallah, the mother of the deceased. Others included Amanat Mallah and Ummat Mallah.

They said that the infant was seriously injured during the police action. The police, they said, had also arrested the father of the deceased and other villagers. They accused the police of implicating the arrested people in false cases.

Protesting women said that the male members of their families could not participate in the protest out of the fear of the police. They submitted a complaint to the DPO Badin, the director of the Human Rights Board and the session judge after staging a sit- in.

They demanded registration of a criminal case against the police officials. The Director of the Human Rights Board sent the application, which was submitted by Ms Wassandi Mallah, to the civil judge and first class magistrate, Badin, for necessary action.

Meanwhile, Civil Judge and First Class Magistrate, Badin, Khushi Muhammad Rajput directed the civil surgeon Badin to appoint a medico-legal officer to conduct the post-mortem of the deceased and submit a report to the court by June 5.

In a related development, the DPO, Badin, Mumtaz Hussain Junejo, has appointed TPO Khuda Dino Khaskheli as an inquiry officer in this regard. The police, in the meantime, have registered a case of obstruction in discharging official duties against 16 villagers including Boolo, Abdul Rehman and Sain Dino. Police have arrested Sain Dino and Boolo and are conducting raids for the arrest of the other accused.