Karachi Company's SHO demoted for torturing two boys.

ISLAMABAD -- Inspector General of Police (IGP) has demoted the Karachi Company police SHO Irshad Cheema after he was found guilty of subjecting two boys to custodial torture.

This was stated by the representatives during a two-day hearing of a complaint lodged with the National Commission on Rights of Child (NCHR).

The complaint was filed by former senator Farhatullah Babar and Advocate Imaan Hazir Mazari, a human rights activist, with the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights, which referred the matter to the commission.

During the course of hearing on Tuesday SSP Operations, Malik Jameel Zafar and the SHO denied the charges.

HR activist, former senator file complaint with Senate body, which referred matter to NCHR

The SHO told the commission that the complainants misunderstood construction noise as 'screams'.

However, the NCHR concluded that the Juvenile Justice System Act 2017 was violated by police and recommended action under Police Order 2002 and Code of Criminal Procedure Code Ordinance 2002.

After receiving the complaint, the commission had issued notices to the IGP, the chief commissioner Islamabad, SHO Karachi Company Irshad Cheema, members of the Juvenile Justice Committee, Islamabad Bar Council's committee on human rights and the Ministry of Interior to appear before the commission for a hearing on Nov 23.

According to documents available with Dawn, Wajahat bin Saif, 16, a resident of G-7/1, and Mohammad Fahad Aftab, 17, were arrested by the Karachi Company police late on Oct 7 night and took them to the police station and started subjecting them to torture.

In the meantime, co-author of the complaint, Imaan Hazir Mazari, who was present in the police station along with a few journalists, heard loud screams of boys from a room and went there.

She discovered, along with other witnesses, that SHO Cheema was brutally beating the two boys, including stepping on their faces, as they were made to lie on the floor. The complainant asked the SHO that under what law he was beating the boys to which he could not answer.

The journalists had recorded the conversation. The SHO attempted to cover his action by putting the boys' names in three dormant FIRs.

According to a statement issued on Wednesday, the hearing was attended by the complainants Farhatullah Babar, Imaan Mazaari, District Prosecutor Ch. M. Naseem Zia, SSP-Operations Malik Jameel Zafar, the respondent, SHO G-9 Markaz Police Station Irshad Cheema, Advocate Adil Aziz Qazi...