Controversy over death in lockup

LAHORE: A youth committed suicide by hanging himself with a piece of cloth in Akbari Gate police lockup on Wednesday.

The youth has been identified as Zeeshan. He was arrested on charges of abusing two boys. Police said that they had arrested the suspect on charges of child abuse. An FIR was registered against him by one child’s father. He was detained in the lockup on Tuesday night and he was found dead the following morning.

Police claimed he committed suicide. Another under-trial person was also present in the lockup, police said. Zeeshan's family claimed that he died because of police torture. They staged a protest demonstration outside Akbari Gate police station and demanded justice. DIG Operations visited the lockup while the Punjab Forensic Laboratory collected the samples from the place of the occurrence. The IG Punjab also took notice of the incident. Meanwhile, dejected over being childless for the past few years, the wife of a factory employee ended her life by hanging herself from a rope in the Johar Town area on Wednesday. The deceased has been identified as Aysha, wife of Imran. She was married almost three years back. The woman was depressed for being childless. On the day of the incident, she tied a rope with a loop in the ceiling and hanged herself. The body was removed to morgue.

Man dies: A 25-year-old man died after getting entangled in a machine in a factory in the Haier area on Wednesday. The deceased identified as Nasir hailed from Kamalia and served in a local factory. On the day of the incident, a loose end of his clothing got entangled in a running machine. As a result, he was badly injured. He was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

found dead: A 50-year-old man was found dead in the Manawan area on Wednesday. The deceased has been identified as Yousaf Masih. Passersby spotted his body in Lakho Dair and informed police. Meanwhile, a 70-year-old woman was found dead in her house at Mustafa Town. The deceased has been identified as Sharifan. She was found dead in her room. Police have removed both bodies to morgue.

Two arrested: Ravi Road Investigation police arrested two persons involved in a murder. The accused Naseem Khan and Azizullah Khan had kidnapped Muhammad Saleem Khan over a monetary issue and killed him at his shop on Ravi Link Road. Later, they threw the victim's body in a derelict area near Ring Road.

cut in crime rate: An international organisation “Numbeo” in its updated crime index has confirmed further decrease in crime rate in Lahore capital city.

According to the crime index, Lahore has improved its position from 178 number to 213 number, jumping 39 grades. Numbeo puts major cities in crime index through observation of various indicators. The current index was updated on July 10, 2019 while last update was made public in January 2019. At that time, Lahore had secured number 178 position among different cities and surpassed many major cities in crime rate worldwide, including Dehli, Dhaka, Washington DC, Tehran, Beijing, Paris and London. Now again Lahore is considered more secure city than Johannesburg, Baghdad, Darwin, Delhi, Washington DC, Rome, London, Paris, Istanbul, Bangalore, Melbourne, New York and Mumbai.

Half yearly index put Karachi on number 75. Crime index released in 2018 showed that Lahore was number 138 in world ranking. Caracas, capital of Venezuela, is considered most dangerous while Abu Dhabi ranked as most safe city in current crime index 2019.