BAHAWALNAGAR: The family of a man allegedly burnt to death after being tortured for suspected theft on Tuesday protested against police and alleged that the McLeod Ganj police were reluctant to file an FIR even four days after the incident.

The family alleged that despite torture being proved in the postmortem report, the McLeod Ganj police were not taking action against the influential accused and adamant to prove the incident an accident.

The victim’s father, Bashir Ahmed, his mother, sisters and wife, residents of Rahmonka, McLeod Ganj said that on Saturday night Hashim Ali, Mustafa, Ameer Hamza and others of the same area came to their house looking for Mukhtar Ahmed. When they found out that he was not at home, they threatened to kill him while declaring him a thief and left, the family alleged.

They alleged that the men found Mukhtar the same night and subjected him to brutal torture. They further alleged that they cut off Mukhtar’s nose and locked him inside a hut in a semiconscious state and burnt the hut. As a result, Mukhtar was burnt alive in the fire, they alleged.

The family said the attackers then claimed that Mukhtar died in hut fire.

The victim’s father claimed that immediately after the incident, he informed police about the whole situation.

He said that he also filed a written complaint to the police against the men. However, he said, the McLeod Ganj police were bent upon proving it an accident.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2021