Woman beaten by cop in train found dead

BAHAWALPUR: The woman, who was subjected to torture by policeman Mir Hasan on a moving train, was found dead near Chani Goth Railway Station in Bahawalpur, police said Monday.

The incident came to light after a video of the policeman went viral on social media, in which he could be seen holding the woman by her hair and hitting her multiple times while other passengers watched silently. Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Railways Abdullah Sheikh had said that the incident took place on April 7 on Karachi to Lala Musa-bound Millat Express. The woman, who belonged to Jaranwala, Faisalabad, was identified as Maryam Bibi.

The victim’s brother, Afzal, said that his sister used to work at a beauty parlour in Karachi and she was coming to Jaranwala to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr.

Afzal said that Maryam left Karachi on April 7 by Millat Express. He said that the Bahawalpur police informed his family of Maryam’s death, saying she fell from train. “We buried her on April 9 in the village thinking it was a train accident. When the video went viral, the truth behind the incident and the violence on my sister came to the fore,” he added.

Afzal alleged that the policeman tortured and killed his sister and threw her body on a railway track, adding that they requested the police to register a case but no action was taken. Meanwhile, the woman’s nephew who was travelling with her, said that his aunt was reciting loudly to which the policeman objected and started torturing her.

“The policeman took our aunt with him and dropped us at the next station,” said the nephew. Meanwhile, police said that Maryam Bibi’s postmortem was conducted at Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Ahmedpur and they are waiting for the report.