ISLAMABAD: Terming the Sahiwal incident horrible, shameful and heart-rending, activists of Child Rights Movement (CRM) on Monday demanded the government for early arrest of all those involved in the extrajudicial killings.

Addressing a press conference, CRM representatives, including Sajjad Cheema, Nazia Raja, Kausar Abbas and Ms Nayyab, said law enforcement agencies were supposed to protect the life and property of citizens rather than opening fire on them.

They said the Sahiwal incident in which Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel shot dead four people, including three members of a family, was a shameful act which put the entire nation in a state of trauma.

They said the killing of a couple and their 13-year-old girl in front of their children would have a deep psychological impact on the survivors and destroy their childhood. The children would never forget violence initiated by law enforcement agencies and remain in a trauma for whole life.

The activists said the PTI government had been talking about the state of Madina but its law enforcement agencies were killing citizens before their children. They said if one of the occupants of the car had any terrorism link, there were several means to arrest and present him before court.

They said the state was responsible to protect its citizens, especially children, instead of defending an extra judicial killing. They said there was a need for a transparent investigation into the incident.

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2019