Probe ordered as student dies in Peshawar police custody

• A grade-7 student was found dead in the lock-up of the West Cantonment Police Station.
  
• He was arrested following a clash with shopkeepers at Liaquat Bazaar and for pointing a gun at them.
• The spokesperson for the Peshawar Police said the deceased has committed suicide.
  
• However, the father of the deceased says the boy was tortured to death.

PESHAWAR: A grade-7 student was found dead in the lock-up of the West Cantonment Police Station after he was arrested following a clash with shopkeepers at Liaquat Bazaar for pointing a gun at them, The News reported on Monday.

The tragic incident has come to light just a few days after a student from Bannu was shot dead by the cops in the limits of the Faqirabad Police Station.

The spokesperson for the Peshawar Police said the deceased was arrested by the cops of the West Cantonment Police Station after the clash and a case was lodged against him.

Read more: Torture and death in police custody: Where is the law to protect us?

"The boy later committed suicide in the lock-up by strangulating himself," said the official.

‘My son was brilliant'

However, the father of the deceased said his son was tortured to death but the cops staged the drama that he committed suicide.

"My son was a brilliant student of class 7 who stood second in class in the last exams. I received a call from the police station that your son has been arrested. When I came to the police station, I was told Shahzeb had committed suicide in the lock-up," said the father of the deceased student, Khayal Akbar, who was visibly shaken by the incident.

Protests and demand for justice

The young boy’s relatives and villagers staged a demonstration and blocked the road outside the police station to protest his death.

They were demanding justice for the family as well as strict action against all those involved in the torture of the deceased student. The protesters calmed down only after they saw the SHO and other cops behind the bars.

While many have been questioning as to what made the young boy commit suicide even if the police version is true, others were found calling attention to the demeanor of law enforcer’s towards common citizens.

Questions were also raised as to how the incident happened when senior cops have claimed that all the police stations, offices of SHOs, and lock-ups are being monitored through CCTV cameras to stop the torture during custody as well as improve the treatment with the people in custody.

Police officers suspended

The staff of the West Cantonment Police Station was suspended after the tragic incident while the cops involved in the incident, including the station house officer, have been arrested and a case lodged against them.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and Governor Shah Farman, while taking notice of the incident, directed the Inspector General of Police to conduct an inquiry and submit report on the death of the young student. They expressed anger as to what made the student commit suicide in the lock-up if the police version is true.

The chief minister also ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident.

The CCPO said an application has been submitted for a judicial inquiry of the case.

He said that the CCTV footage of the police station has been collected and will be provided to the judicial commission. "Justice will be done in the case," said the CCPO.