Peshawar - A defence lawyer says a death-row inmate has requested that a court suspend the “un-Islamic” practice of hanging prisoners because it is “too painful”.

Mohammad Khursheed Khan said Saturday his client is instead urging jail authorities to use lethal injections or some other mode of execution.

Khan filed the petition this week. He said the court has sought a reply from the government on Jan Bahadur’s petition by July 26.

Khan said it was the first such petition filed before the Peshawar High Court. It was not immediately clear if a similar petition has ever been filed elsewhere in the country.

Bhadur was sentenced to death by hanging in 2000 for murder and the date for his execution is likely to be set soon.

1,590 FATA STUDENTS GIVEN

FIRST-AID TRAINING

Staff Reporter adds: Pakistan Red Crescent Fata chapter trained about 1,590 male and female students as well as officials of law enforcement agencies in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas with an aim to educate them on life saving techniques during emergency and disaster situations in tribal region.

The trainings were awarded under first aid programme since February 2017 and the students of both public and private educational institutions, religious seminaries, community members, Levy force and Frontier Corps (FC) officials were among the participants, said Coordinator First Aid Programme PRC Fata Iftikhar Ahmad on Saturday.

It was informed that a total of 651 women out of 590 were trained by First Aid Programme in central, lower and upper Kurram Agency. The process of training more students and community members was still underway and additional tribesmen would be trained in forthcoming time, it was added.

Iftikhar Ahmad said that trainings were conducted in cooperation and collaboration with officials of agency education department, peace committees, political administration and local community members. He informed that relevant stakeholders extended their full patronage in this regard.

“The targeted populations were mostly students as they could better understand the message and could also convey to other tribesmen as compared to aged persons” he said. Owing to dilapidated law and order conditions in Fata, the trainings aimed at capacity building of students to enhance their knowledge and also to get them involved in constructive activities to complement in development of the militancy-hit-society, he argued.

Ameena Jan, Principal Government Girls High School No 2 Parachinar, who praised the exercise carried out by PRC Fata, said that most of the women usually got burnt during cooking with hot water or warm oil and sometimes they also cut their fingers with sharp knives. Therefore, in such situations, the first aid knowledge and practice could play a leading role to minimise the risks and sufferings, she added.

She also appreciated techniques and practices adopted in the first aid training despite using domestic formulas which, she said, were not beneficial in general. She emphasised the need for holding more such trainings in future to equip girls with skills and experience to help victims in emergency situation.