A body of a 14-year-old boy with police claiming torture marks on it has been recovered from a seminary in Faisalabad as the father of the victim refused to perform a post-mortem.
According to police, Sargodha Road police shifted the body of a 14-year-old boy who bore torture marks to Allied Hospital. “An investigation is underway with the seminary administration and students regarding the incident,” they said.
The body has been identified as Talha, son of Shahid Nadeem who is a resident of Sufiyan Town in Faisalabad and was studying at the seminary.
The police further shared that a team of the Punjab Forensic Science Agency has also examined the body and found no torture marks on it.
The father of the victim has submitted a statement on oath before a civil judge that his son has died of natural causes and was not murdered by anyone. “I do not want to perform a post-mortem of the body,” he said.
In a somewhat similar incident, an eight-year-old boy died after allegedly being beaten up by a seminary teacher in Karachi’s Bin Qasim Town.
The local police said the child was meted out harsh punishment first by his family members and then by the teacher for not going to a seminary for religious lessons.
His parents alleged their son was subjected to torture by his teacher, which resulted in his death. However, they seemed to be reluctant to seek legal action against the teacher.
Following the death of the minor boy, his family members and the residents of the area caught the teacher and handed him over to the police.