NAROWAL: A 20-year-old young man was tortured to death with iron rods while his body was burnt at a village in Zafarwal on Sunday.

Zeeshan alias Shani, a resident of village Baran Kalan, had gone to meet a girl in her village Badala Kohlian in tehsil Zafarwal at night when he was caught by the girl’s family.

About 15 to 20 people from the village caught Zeeshan and started torturing him with slaps, punches and kicks. They tied his hands and feet with chains while a suspect threw him to the ground, subjecting him to severe torture with iron rods.

Zeeshan kept asking for mercy but the suspects ignored his pleas. A suspect continued spitting on the young man’s face and hit him with iron rods. The suspect killed Zeeshan on the spot. Later, they set his body on fire.

The videos of violence against Zeeshan and burning of his body went viral on social media.

According to the eyewitnesses, Muhammad Razzaq and Muhammad Afzal, the influential people of village Badala Kohliyan had brutally tortured the girl too.

Narowal District Police Officer Rana Tahir Rehman Khan said police registered a first information report (FIR) against the suspects who tortured the youth and arrested three of them.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2024