Flower seller ‘tortured’ in Peshawar Saddar

PESHAWAR: A group of well-built men, some wearing black uniforms, disembarked from a van and pounced on a flower seller holding a tray full of daffodils. The words ‘District Administration Peshawar’ were written on the body of the vehicle. Sensing the danger, the flower seller tried to escape, but the men cornered him and overpowered him.

In the melee, the tray the florist was holding dropped and the beautiful flowers littered the road already jammed with bumper-to-bumper traffic. The boy somehow managed to break free and ran but only to get stuck between two cars. The men in plainclothes grabbed him again and started beating him mercilessly. They dragged him on the road so his clothes were torn and bruises inflicted on him. He was thrown into the van like cattle. Stuck in the heavy traffic, this reporter watched the poor soul helplessly.