Daily Times

A day after the conviction of Imran Ali, the man responsible for the rape and murder of Zainab Ansari – it is important to remember Mudassir, a 21-year old Kasur local who was accused of the rape and murder of five-year-old Iman Fatima in Kasur in February 2017. Mudassir was killed in a police encounter. It wasn’t until public outrage over Zainab’s killing forced the authorities to collect DNA samples from Zainab’s remains that we found out that both Iman and Zainab were assaulted and killed by the same person – Imran Ali.

Following these revelations, the authorities reopened the Iman Fatima case on January 27. A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was formed, which eventually summoned the six police personnel who were accused of gunning down Mudassir. The latter’s mother, Jamila Bibi submitted a writ petition for the registration of a murder case against the Inspector General Punjab, former District Police Officer (DPO) Ali Nasir Rizvi and Station House Officer (SHO) Sadar Younas Dogar. In that writ petition, Jamila Bibi has accused the police of threatening her family with dire consequences if they pursued action against them. She has also said the police offered her money for withdrawing the names of certain police officers, including then DPO Ali Nasir Rizvi.

At a time when public interest in extra-judicial killings by the police is at an all time high because of the Naqeebullah case and pressure to bring Rao Anwar to justice, Mudassir’s case makes the consequences of extra-judicial murders by the police clearly discernable. Following Mudassir’s death, Imran Ali reportedly went on to assault four more minor girls, three of whom are dead – including Zainab. Mudassir’s reputation was ruined, his relatives say they had to leave Kasur because they had been forced to live as pariahs after Mudassir’s arrest and murder. The responsibility for all of this suffering, including that experienced by Zainab and her family falls squarely on the Kasur police, especially the police officers responsible for this murder. They must be held accountable, not just for killing an innocent man but also for their negligence and alleged attempts to bribe and intimidate Mudassir’s family. *

Published in Daily Times, February 19^th 2018.