A Christian Man Tortured and Murdered by the Police

Sabir Masih dies of torture in the Islamabad police custody.

Kohsar police station photo: photos.thenews.com.pk

(ISLAMABAD) - The civil society staged a protest in front of the Islamabad Press club on Wednesday against police brutality.

Sabir Masih 30, an employee of CDA (Capital Development Authority), a father of 2, was arrested by the police on the suspicion of theft on Tuesday from 100 Quarters located in the sector F/6 in Islamabad. He was brought to the Kohsar police station where he was kept for the night and interrogated. His family rushed to the police station and told the police that he goes to work and comes home, and that he had not committed any crime.

Police used the conventional method of torture to make Masih confess the crime. Lamentably he was tortured to the extend that he passed away.

The police tried to cover up the incident, but the matter had already reached the concerned authorities.

Kohsar police station was recently updated and the capital police claimed that it was a "Model police Station" where the staff is polite and cooperative. It would present a positive image of the police that people would have the sense of security, but regrettably this incident has slammed the claims.

The family demanded the postmortem and appropriate action against the investigating officer and others involved in this heinous crime. A judicial commission has been formed to investigate the matter, the postmortem report confirms that Sabir Masih was tortured and died of internal injuries. The family is being pressured to schedule the funeral for Thursday, but they stressed that the officers involved be arrested and they are given the assurity that severe action will be taken against the wolves in the uniform.

The civil society protested in-front of the Islamabad press Club against the police brutality, the police is there to protect the innocent, but if the protectors will be scavengers then who will protect the weak? A person is arrested under suspicion and third degree torture is used against him to make him confess a crime. The police in the Punjab province has been in the media for using such conventional methods of interrogation, the capital police authorities have been making claims of reforming the conventional ways and using different techniques, but the actions speak otherwise. The police has violated the law by arresting a man without warrants, he was denied a lawyer and subjected to the third degree torture.

Life For All Pakistan the Human Rights group, has strongly condemned the incident and stressed that this is not the matter that Sabia Masih was a Christian, had it been a Muslim or from any other religion, we would have protested against this brutality. It has been commonly observed that when a Christian is arrested he has to face a bitter experience, the police takes out all the frustration on the person. We demand justice and an exemplary punishment that such incidents are not witnessed in future. The people should feel secure with the police being around, not the other way.