LAHORE: The postmortem report of a minor boy, who died at a religious seminary in Baghbanpura a week ago, mentioned that the body bore several torture marks.

Junaid, 6, was rushed to a private hospital where the doctors declared him “received dead” and his parents alleged his teacher, Qari Faiz, had tortured him, leading to his death.

Police, initially, rejected the family claim, saying the boy died from a disease.

Baghbanpura police also refused registration of a criminal case against the suspect, provoking the relatives of the boy to take to the street. Scores of locals, including parents and other relatives, placed his body on the road in front of the press club and lodged a protest against the police.

They had alleged that the police were trying to mislead senior officers by presenting distorted facts and denying the legal right of postmortem of the body to bring facts to light. Resultantly, senior police officials intervened and a case was registered against Faiz and his accomplice Qari Asad two days after the incident.

Directions were also issued for a postmortem of the body. The autopsy report issued on Wednesday confirmed that the body of the boy bore several torture marks.

A police official said the prime suspects had secured pre-arrest bail from court. The homicide unit of the police had started an investigation into the murder in the light of the postmortem report.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2019