ISLAMABAD – Police in the federal capital have suspended an SHO after a lawyer visiting a police station accused the police official of torturing a man in custody.
The man had been taken into custody and brought to the police station in the G-9 neighbourhood of Islamabad.
The lawyer, Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, who happens to be the daughter of former human rights minister Dr Shireen Mazari, said in a Twitter post she was visiting the police station when she “heard screams” from one of the rooms where she found the Station House Officer (SHO) beating a man on the floor.
In a video recorded at the SHO’s office, she said it was a case of “custodial torture”.
In another Twitter post, she said the man inflicting violence on the unknown man had “no business being on the police force”.
“The SHO has been suspended on the instructions of the federal interior minister to ensure a fair inquiry into the incident of torture against a citizen at the Karachi Company Police Station,” the police announced on their social media page on Saturday.
“Strict action will be taken if [the SHO is] found guilty. Any law enforcer found involved in any illegal activity will not be tolerated,” the post said.
تھانہ کراچی کمپنی میں شہری پر تشدد واقعہ کی منصفانہ انکوائری کے لیے، وفاقی وزیر داخلہ کی ہدایت پر ایس ایچ او کو معطل کر دیا گیا ہے. قصور وار ثابت ہونے پر سخت کارروائی کی جائے گی، کسی بھی غیر قانونی کارروائی میں قانون نافذ کرنے والا ملوث پایا گیا تو اسے برداشت نہیں کیا جائے گا۔ https://t.co/1RZbhgfSrz
— Islamabad Police (@ICT_Police) October 8, 2022
Custodial torture is common in Pakistan where police are widely believed to use it to obtain confessions. In the recent case, the suspended SHO asked the lawyer how the issue was relevant to her after she challenged him for allegedly torturing the citizen.
I was there at police station too. I recorded this clip. This man also tried to stop me from recording when he came close to me. We all heard screams of that poor guy who was brutally beaten with Chittar and was stepping on his face.
With you @ImaanZHazir 🙏@AsadAToor pic.twitter.com/49IR1d7eX8— Syed Haris Shirazi (@harisshirazi1) October 8, 2022
