Lahore manhole tragedy: Victim's husband accuses police of torture, coercion during questioning

• Husband alleges SP, SHO pressured him repeatedly.
• Cousin Tanveer also detained during police questioning.
• Govt sets 48-hour inquiry deadline into tragedy.

LAHORE: The man whose wife and 10-month-old daughter fell into an open manhole near Bhati Gate in Lahore has accused senior police officers of torturing him and trying to force a false confession.

The woman, Sadia, along with her 10-month-old daughter, Rida Fatima, died after falling into a manhole near Bhati Gate in Lahore on Wednesday.

Speaking to Geo News exclusively, Ghulam Murtaza alleged that Superintendent of Police (SP) Bilal and Station House Officer (SHO) Zain subjected him to torture and repeatedly pressured him to admit that he had killed his wife.

“They kept telling me to say that I committed the murder,” he claimed, adding that the police wanted to forcibly extract a confession from him.

Murtaza further said that his cousin, Tanveer, was also detained along with him during the interrogation.

Rejecting any claim of a domestic dispute, he said there had been no quarrel with his wife and that he had come out with her for a walk. He further said that he had informed the police that he saw both of them fall with his own eyes.

According to him, the police officers repeatedly told him that he was lying. Murtaza also said that the police had taken away his mobile phone.

His remarks come a day after the Punjab CM ordered for dismissal and arrest of four officials, including the project director, project manager and safety in-charge of the ongoing construction project.

Chairing an emergency meeting at the Lahore airport lounge upon her return from Bhakkar, she declared the contractor, supervisor, consultant, commissioner Lahore, deputy commissioner Lahore, assistant commissioner, LDA and Wasa collectively responsible for the tragedy.

Maryam also criticised attempts to create confusion after the incident, stating that instead of helping the bereaved family, the victim’s husband was treated as a suspect.

She rejected claims questioning whether the woman had fallen into the manhole, pointing out that CCTV footage was available until 7:30pm and that staging such an incident within minutes was impossible.

'48-hour inquiry deadline'

Separately, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari — while speaking on Geo News programme 'Geo Pakistan' — said that the first information about the Bhati Gate incident was received from Rescue 1122.

She said that the victim’s father had contacted the police, after which the woman’s husband was taken to the police station.

Bukhari said that she had no words to describe how deeply grieved Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz was over the incident, adding that she was receiving moment-by-moment reports about the tragedy.

She said the victim’s father had told the authorities that his daughter had an argument with her husband, and on that basis, the police took the husband into custody.

According to the information minister, the police may have suspected that the husband could be involved in the incident. She said a 48-hour deadline had been set to complete the inquiry into the incident.

She said that there were reports that the police had behaved improperly with the man whose wife and child had fallen into the sewer line, adding that this aspect would also be investigated. She said that action would be taken against anyone found responsible.