Source:         www.assistnews.net

Date:            July 18, 2007

By Sheraz Khurram Khan
Special Correspondent for ASSIST News Service in Pakistan

Left to Right: Principal accused Moazam along with young Christian men Shahbaz and Hasar Mawat

SARGODHA, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- Two young Pakistani Christian men have been falsely implicated in two separate murder cases, ANS has learnt.

A Muslim man, Moazam, allegedly murdered his step-brother, Muhammad Luqman, on November 19, 2006 and threw the dead body near a canal in the Chongee # 9 area which is close to Bashir Colony, Sargodha.

Moazam's father, Allah Yar, the complainant filed murder case with the Police Station Satellite town, Sargodha after discovery of his murdered son's dead body.

According to the Police First Information Report (FIR) no. 888, the complainant accused his son, Moazam and three other Muslim men of murdering Luqman.

Parents of the two Christian men, Hasar Mawat and Shahbaz alleged that initially the complainant did not name their children, alleging that later he passed his son's 'doing' on their children in a bid to see his son's release.

Yar said in the FIR that a caller describing himself as Shahbaz told him that his son had been murdered and his body had been thrown near Choongi no. 9.

Shahbaz, 17, a Christian youth was included in the police investigation after passage of several months.

"Our son is innocent. He has not committed the murder. My husband does not work due to his ailment. I am a servant at a missionary school in Sargodha. The arrest of my son has compounded our economic woes", Javed's wife, Martha, the sole breadwinner of the family told ANS, her eyes tearing up.

Talking to ANS, Ayub Aftab Gill, the father of the other young Christian man, Hasar Mawat, 17 said the Police came and took him to the police station nine days after the occurrence of the murder.

Young Christian man Hasar Mawat accused of murder

"They kept me in dark while they were taking me to the Police Station. They made no mention of Hasar Mawat. The police pressured me to name some Muslim men who happened to be rivals of the complainant. The police told me if I named those people then they would let me go," he alleged.

Gill's refusal to make a statement according to the wishes of the complainant brought trouble for his teen aged son. The Police asked him to produce Hasar Mawat.

"I could not comprehend to this date as to why the Police kept me in illegal detention," he said. "My son's involvement in the case whereas he has not been named in the FIR is also beyond my understanding."

The Police released Gill on December 4, 2006 only in return for his teenage son. With his son in police custody, the Christian man approached District Police Officer, Omer Sheikh on December 15, 2006 and apprised him that his son was being illegally detained by the police.

The DPO directed the concerned Deputy Superintendent of Police to look into the matter.

Gill said when he appeared before the DPO again on December 19 the DPO also summoned his son, Hasar Mawat accused of murder by the complainant on a supplementary statement.

Gill said the DPO ordered his arrest under section 109 for giving counsel in the alleged murder after his son, Hasar denied he had committed murder.

He alleged on the night of December 19 the police inflicted torture on his son in a bid to make him a forced statement in line with the complainant's version.

The Christian man said though the medical examination was not conducted transparently yet it revealed marks of injuries his son had sustained during police torture.

Shahbaz Javed, young Christian man accused of murder

Gill was released on December 20, 2006 on the orders of District Sessions Judge, Pervaiz Chawala. He said it was disclosed that neither his nor his son, Hasar Mawat's name featured on Police daily entry register.

53 year old Gill confided in ANS that a relative of the complainant in the first case named his son and Shahbaz in a separate case, accusing them of poisoning a Muslim man, Imtiaz Hussain to death.

The case was filed vide FIR no. 955 at the Police Station Satellite on December 21, 2006.

He said the medical examination report disputed the complainant's version. "No poison has been detected in the articles", said the Chief Chemical Examiner Punjab's report, a copy of which was obtained by the ANS.

The Police have not yet taken any action against the Christian men vis-à-vis the second murder case, he said.

Rays of Development (ROD) team comprising Zimran Elias, Jawad Mazher, Chairman Ferhan Mazher, Adnan Saeed and Nadeem Samuel also accompanied ANS.

Talking to ANS ROD Chairman Ferhan Mazher said he would do all he could to ensure legal assistance to Hasar Mawat and Shahbaz, the young Christian men implicated in two separate murder cases.