LAHORE - The autopsy report of 24-year-old Shahzad, a shopkeeper in Photo Market on Nisbat Road, revealed that the youth died of severe torture in police custody, rescuers and medical sources said on Thursday.
Hundreds of people mostly shopkeepers took to the streets and staged demonstration against the police brutality on Thursday. The protesters blocked the Chah Miran Road by putting the body on the road, creating worst traffic mess in the busy locality for more than an hour.
Hospital sources said Shahzad had sustained injuries and severe bruising in the upper right back area and severe bruises of sharp circular shape in the right chest area. There was also evidence of severe torture on the muscle of the upper left shoulder, parallel to the spine in the lower neck area, and evidence of severe torture under the skin and inside the muscle of the right side of the chest.
Earlier, the police handed over the body to the family after the autopsy. The deceased was buried at a local graveyard amid tears and screaming.
Mohsin, brother of the deceased, told the reporters that Shahzad was brutally tortured in front of his shop and then he was taken to the police station.
The youth died in Gowalmandi police station on Wednesday, just two hours after he was detained for scuffling with a woman over some property dispute.
Police had claimed that Shahzad suffered cardiac arrest and was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. On the other hand, the family alleged that Shahzad was brutally tortured to death by policemen on the behest of an influential person.
“The boy was put in the lockup for scuffling with a woman in public. We also took action against the woman by registering a report (against her). But we asked the lady to appear before the court tomorrow morning since police cannot detain a woman on such minor charges,” Inspector Mudassar Ullah Khan, station house officer Gowalmandi police station asserted when contacted.
Taking notice of police highhandedness, the chief minister sought a report from the DIG (Operations) and also ordered an inquiry to probe into the incident.