ISLAMABAD: Khairpur police, emulating the tribal traditions of Fata, have started delivering on the spot, as this time they have demolished several houses of family members of the absconding/jailed killers of 17-year-old Tasleem Solangi.
The innocent victims of this crime in the name of honour–children and women–of this accused family have no idea where to take shelter in the winter after losing the roof from their heads at the hands of custodians of the law.
Five male members of this family whose houses have been demolished are in jail for collaborating in the killing of Tasleem, while two are on the run, including father-in-law Zamir Solangi.
It is rare in Sindh that the houses of accused are demolished by police. Earlier the people of Pakistan used to hear about such drastic actions against criminals only in the tribal areas. Instead of following laws to get them punished through the courts, police parties were now just demolishing the houses.
These children and women, whose husbands and fathers are either in jail or on the run, are now said to be taking shelter with their relatives. According to credible information, about 15 vans carrying dozens of police constables led by their uniformed bosses were sent to raid houses in the villages to arrest Zamir Solangi, father-in-law of Tasleem, who had actually engineered her killing.
But he had already fled the house which greatly infuriated the police party. The frustrated police party took a quick decision on the spot to demolish houses of the alleged killers as a “punishment” to give vent to their own anger and frustration.
Sources said such an illegal action might invite criticism from the media, public and the civil society groups as this sort of “police justice” might not help the cause of justice as in the process many innocent people become victim of police highhandedness and police might successfully divert the attention from the killing of Tasleem to other aspects of the crime.
One source said such action to demolish houses was taken after 20 years. Former Khairpur SSP Major (retd) Imtiaz who lately served as the chief security officer of Benazir Bhutto before she was assassinated, had demolished houses of some furious dacoits as punishment to stop the rising crimes.
These shelterless women and children of the alleged killers, who are paying a big price for the acts of their elders, are said to be the victim of “collateral damage” of one foul killing which has now destroyed many families.
Police have already arrested some members of the Zamir Solangi family who were said to be part of the killing which took place in the family with the consent of the elders. Talking to The News, Khairpur DSP Liaquat Abbasi confirmed that he had got reports that houses of alleged killers of Tasleem had been bulldozed.
But he wondered why the police were being blamed for this act. “What could we achieve from bulldozing the houses of the killers?” He accused the villagers of the area of demolishing the houses of Zamir Solangi and others on their own.
But when he was asked whether the police had taken any action against the villagers for demolishing houses of the accused, Liaquat Abbasi said how police could take any action unless someone approaches police station with a complaint.
He claimed that so far no one had contacted the police to take action against those who had demolished the houses.How any member of Zamir Solangi could contact the police to lodge a complaint for demolishing their houses, an official asked.
He said male members of these women and children were on the run or behind bars. The remaining women and children had seen the police men demolishing their houses in front of their eyes.
“So from whom these innocent victims–children and women–who were deprived of their shelter in the fast-approaching winter should seek justice when the custodians of the law themselves were seen doing this illegal act,” commented an authentic source.
Source: The News
Date:11/15/2008
