Justice is blind for a blind family

LAHORE Having failed to trace the killers of their one member, City police are 'advising a family of all blinds to track down the culprits themselves. The hapless family with three brothers blind and all Hafiz-e-Quran, is scared and unable to pursue the murder case of Sharif Ullah, 26, their only breadwinner, who was shot dead in the public about one week ago in Shafiqabad police limit. All the killers are still at large and are threatening the blind family of dire consequences, forcing them to withdraw the case against them. Sharif Ullah, 26, a resident of Khokhar Town situated at Bund Road in Shafiqabad police vicinity was running a PCO shop to feed more than a dozen members of his family including his three blind brothers and their kids. Everything was going well before we married our two sisters to the sons of one Sher Khan, who demanded Rs 400,000 as dowry, some days after the wedding, said Hafiz Saeed Ahmed, the eldest in the family. Months after their marriage, we came to know that the in-laws of our sisters were actually drug-peddlers. They used to force our sisters to sell drug but they refused to do so because we are a poor but gentle people, Hafiz Saeed added. Ultimately, our sisters were kicked out from their house, the 34-year-old blind man said while tears were rolling down through his beard. On September 26, he said, Sher Khan along with his sons stormed into our house, fired warning shots, and also brutally tortured my sisters and blind brothers. As we made hue and cry, the local residents responded and intervened. The accused fled away. The local residents respect our family because we all are Hafiz-e-Quran and we teach Quran to the children here, Saeed Ahmed said. Sharif Ullah, who was normal in this family, approached the police station and filed an application for registration of a case against the attackers. Ironically, the police did not register the case. Two days later, when Sher Khan came to know that the blind family had contacted the police station for registration of FIR against him, he got infuriated and decided to teach them a lesson. On September 28, he along with his four sons Younis Khan, Jan Muhammad, Meer Ahmed and Mujahid Khan stormed into the house of the blind family and badly tortured all the family members. They dragged Sharif Ullah to a nearby road crossing, shot him dead in the presence of dozens of people and fled away from the crime scene. A woman of the locality also sustained bullet injuries as she intervened in favour of the blind family. The police reached there later and registered the murder case on the complaint of 17-year-old Abdul Ghaffar, the youngest and now only normal brother in the family. Now they (killers) are threatening him (Abdul Ghaffar) of dire consequences, Saeed Ahmed said with fearful eyes. He further said that the police are not conducting raids to nab the killers who are still at large and roaming freely. Is there any one to provide us justice? he questioned. Hafiz Ghulam Siddique, 25, Hafiz Shah Zafar, 30, and Hafiz Saeed Ahmed are living in slums along with their five sisters and their kids. We dont have any source of income. We dont have anything to eat and wear, Saeed Ahmed explained. He also appealed to the Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif to provide them some job as they can teach Quran to the children. After the restoration of Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry many people in this country were hopeful that they would be provided justice. But the most deserving and special people like this family are running from pillar to post to get justice, a local resident Rafique Ahmed commented.

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