Accused To Be Produced After May
Punjab jail authorities notified sessions and accountability courts that under-trial accused prisoners cannot be produced in courts until after May 31 due to the pandemic situation on Monday, May 18. Furthermore, the courts were requested to adjourn cases of under-trial accused. So far, 89 prisoners in 4 jails across Punjab have tested positive for COVID-19, with Lahore Camp Jail reporting the highest number of infections.
Violence Against Children
Satellite town police arrested one of three suspects involved in the rape and murder of an eleven year old boy whose body was discovered on 16 May in Lalazar town in Sargodha, Punjab. According to the police, the detained suspect had confessed to the crime and named two other accomplices that were with him. The suspects had raped the child and then later strangled him to death for fear of being caught.
Meanwhile, a Swabi man poisoned his minor daughters as revenge against his wife whom he argued with prior to the incident. The girls were rushed to hospital where one was unable to survive while the other is currently in critical condition. According to family members, the suspects would regularly beat and berate his wife.
Suicide Due To Poverty
A daily-wage laborer, Aziz Usman of Jhaber village in Sheikhupura, Punjab, killed himself by ingesting poison due to poverty. Usman, the sole bread-winner of his family, was unable to find work since the lockdown and could not acquire aid from the Prime Minister’s Ehsaas Relief Program.