KASUR: Situation at village Husain Khanwala remained tense on Monday after the burial of a relative of the suspects in child porn scam, who was found dead mysteriously on Sunday.

Victim Muhammad Shafi, whose body was found in Nishtar police station precincts on Sunday, was buried in the village graveyard amid tight security arrangements.

Hundreds of police officials remained deployed at Husain Khanwala village till the burial to avert any untoward incident.

Meanwhile, at a press conference the relatives and lawyers of the affected children announced boycott of the joint investigation team (JIT) till the cases against them were not withdrawn. They also threatened to hold a long march on Islamabad.

Local police had booked some 800 villagers, including Mobeen Ghaznavi, the man leading the villagers protesting child abuse.

On Sunday, Nishtar police entered a case against two police officials and four others for killing the brother of the main suspect in the scam after subjecting him to torture.

Advocate Latif Sara, lawyer of the affected children, alleged police were harassing the victims and their families by lodging baseless cases against them. He said under such circumstances the victims, their family members and witnesses could not join the JIT to record their statements.

The JIT headed by DIG Abubakar Khuda Bakhsh started working on Aug 13 and will conclude its findings in 14 days. — Correspondent

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2015

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