GUJRAT: Families of the schoolchildren who had been burnt alive in a school van fire tragedy near Mungowal in Gujrat on May 25, 2013, have formally granted pardon to the van driver, its owner, the motor vehicle examiner and others.

The reconciliation was announced at a ‘panchayat’ at Rajeki village in the presence of elders of the area and the police officials concerned.

Eighteen schoolchildren and their teacher, Samiya Noreen, were burnt alive when their van on way to Mungowal from Rajeki village caught fire.

The Kunjah police had registered a case against driver Irfan, the van owner, Gujrat Motor Vehicle Examiner Farrukh Sohail and a CNG workshop owner under Section 322 of PPC.

A gathering was held at the outhouse of Chaudhry Sajjad Warraich and Chaudhry Riaz Warraich, a traffic police official whose four children and sister Samiya Noreen besides two other kin became a victim of the tragedy.

The teacher who rendered sacrifice while trying to rescue the children despite initially managing her safe exit from the van had been conferred Sitara-i-Juraat by the then president, Asif Ali Zardari. The Punjab government had given a financial assistance of Rs500,000 to each affected family.

Mr Warraich was complainant in the case and he, along with the parents of other children, announced they had pardoned the accused.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2015

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