November 15, 2006	Wednesday	Shawwal 22, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 14: The Supreme Court on Monday took notice of the inhuman treatment meted out to drug addicts in the name of spiritual healing in private prisons set up in some shrines of the province.

"This is the situation in a civilised society like ours," Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry said while commenting on the concern shown by senior advocate Abdul Hafeez Pirzada during the hearing of a murder case.

He said he had also asked the Peshawar High Court chief justice about what was happening in his province where 150 people had been chained in a madressah-like private cell in the name of spiritual treatment.

Earlier, Advocate Pirzada expressed fears that the country might slip into a state of anarchy. He said the situation was rapidly deteriorating.

On Friday last, the NWFP police had submitted a detailed report to the apex court about the presence of a private prison in Haripur near the residence of former National Assembly speaker Gohar Ayub and Minister of State for Education Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli.

Raiding the place on a tip-off from two runaways, the police rescued 110 victims. Maulana Ilyas Qadri, who had been allegedly running the prison for 15 years, was arrested after the cancellation of his bail by a local court.

According to reports, the private prison had seven barracks where the detainees were chained and fettered so that they could not escape. The prisoners were not even allowed to attend to the call of nature. Prison guards used to torture the inmates physically and mentally, besides sexually abusing the younger-ones.

The detainees, ageing 10 to 50 years and including foreigners also, were admitted by their parents for spiritual healing, or by their relatives who wished to settle some personal score. Monthly fees were received by the prison runners.