Person killed at internment centre

PHC seeks opinion on postmortem report

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday sought opinion from the Khyber Medical College (KMC) whether postmortem of a person who died four years ago in the custody of security forces at an interment centre was possible or not.

A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Muhammad Ayub Khan sought opinion from Forensic Department of the KMC in a writ petition of Maida Jana, mother of the deceased detainee, Maula Jan.

The court sought the opinion whether the body could be exhumed after four years and if postmortem of the deceased was possible. The court adjourned the case till June 20. The court sought the opinion after the mother claimed in the petition that her son's death was not natural as he had died in the custody due to severe violence.

Earlier, the woman had filed a habeas corpus petition for safe recovery of her missing son Maula Jan. She had claimed that her missing son was later shifted to internment centre Ghallanai in Mohmand Agency.

The woman said that in 2013 she received her son's body from the internment centre. The mother believed her son's death was not natural as he died due to violence in the custody. She said that her son's postmortem was not conducted and he was buried hurriedly.

The mother also prayed the court to direct the government to pay Diyat compensation to legal heirs of Maula Jan. The same bench in another case related to love marriage, directed Khyber Agency Political Agent to produce the couple in full security in court today.

The bench issued direction in the writ petition filed by Jehanzeb Khan through his lawyer Qazi Jawad Ihsanullah. Jehanzeb Khan, father and a resident of Bahrain in Swat district, claimed that one Shah Faisal, a resident of Bara, Khyber Agency kidnapped his daughter and then forcibly married her.

However, Shah Faisal claimed that he had contracted love marriage and the petitioner's daughter married him of her own free will. The lawyer submitted that the petitioner had lodged first information report at the Bahrain Police Station against Shah Faisal. He said that Shah Faisal then challenged the FIR in the high court, and the court without hearing the petitioner cancelled the FIR.

He informed the bench that the petitioner's daughter was not happy with the accused Shah Faisal, because he had forcibly married the petitioner's daughter after kidnapping her. The lawyer prayed the court to summon the girl and record her statement whether she wanted to go with her father or had married of her free will.