UMERKOT: A decapitated body later identified as that of one Balam Bheel, which was found in Sanwari canal 37 days back and buried immediately because of being highly decomposed, was exhumed on court orders here on Thursday.

The exhumation was carried out by a special team of doctors led by professor of pathology at LUMHS Dr Tanveer Ahmed Shaikh, Dr Syed Qurban Ali Shah, additional police surgeon Dr S.M. Khalid and others in the presence of civil judge-II Asadullah Qureshi, SHO of Nabisar road police station Ashok Kumar, Talhi police station SHO Ghulam Murtaza Pathan and heirs of the deceased.

The team, which collected samples for chemical analysis, told Dawn that they would be able to shed light on it after the body’s pathology report was prepared.

Balam Bheel had remained missing for 25 days before his decapitated and highly decomposed body was found in Sanwari canal at watercourse number 13 on May 29. A chit with a mobile phone number written on it wrapped in a shopping bag was found in the pocket of the clothes on the body with the help of which police searched out heirs and buried the body as it was too decomposed to be kept for identification.

Police then registered a case against three suspects identified as landlord Baboo Khaskheli, Arzoo Khaskheli and Soomar Khaskheli on a complaint lodged by Meeran Bheel, mother of late Balam. The case was initially filed at Nabisar road police station and was later shifted to Talhi police station because of disputes over jurisdiction.

The deceased’s mother told Dawn that she and her family used to live as peasants in Saparr Dal village five years ago, where her elder son Kirshan was accused of running away with a Khaskheli girl after which members of Khaskheli community kept them under virtual detention for two years.

She said that since Kirshan had gone missing, they feared that they might have killed him. So, fearing for their lives they escaped the village one night and sought shelter at a peasant camp, Bakhtawar Colony, in Umerkot.

One day, Balam left home for work and he too went missing. Later they were told his body was found in Sanwary minor, she said. Therefore, they believed that he too had been killed by the suspects they had nominated in the FIR, she said.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2019