LAHORE: Sanda police have arrested a deranged man who allegedly dug out graves of three children in a local graveyard and after taking out their bodies, contacted their families and asked them to rebury them “properly”.

The police inquiries suggested that the suspect, identified as Usman Alias Mani, has so far removed several bodies from the graves claiming that “voices” instructed him to commit the horrible act.

A police official said the arrest came after the suspect removed bodies of three children from their graves in a local graveyard and managed to approach the families of the deceased kids, asking them to arrange their reburial somewhere else.

The suspect further told the shocked families that the “voices” declared the burial of the children “against the teachings of Islam”.

Tells police ‘voices’ ordered him to do so

As the matter came to the notice of the families and relatives of the deceased children, they rushed to the graveyard and found the bodies lying out of the graves.

The police official said that on being informed of the ghastly incident, the officers immediately alerted the administration of the graveyard. Later, a team of local police arrested the suspect from the graveyard.

He said that the police also engaged a senior psychologist who examined and questioned the suspect and declared him mentally unstable.

The police, however, lodged a case against the suspect Usman under section 297 of the Pakistan Penal Code (trespassing of burial places ) and launched further investigations.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2023