LAHORE – In a harrowing turn of events following the tragic death of a woman and her young daughter in an open manhole near Bhati Gate, the victim’s husband has leveled serious allegations of police brutality and a cover-up attempt.
Ghulam Murtaza, the grieving husband, claims that instead of launching a rescue operation, Lahore police detained and tortured him to extract a false confession of murder.
Forced Confession Allegations
Speaking to private media outlets, Ghulam Murtaza shared his ordeal, stating that he witnessed his wife and daughter fall into the sewage line with his own eyes. However, senior police officials allegedly refused to believe his account.
“The SP and SHO kept telling me I was lying,” Murtaza said. “They tortured me to force a confession that I had killed my wife and child. They wanted to turn a tragic accident caused by infrastructure failure into a criminal case to save their own skin.”
Murtaza further revealed:
Illegal Detention: Police also detained his cousin, Tanveer, and confiscated their mobile phones.
No Domestic Dispute: He clarified there was no conflict with his wife; the family had simply come to the Data Darbar area for a walk.
The Survivor: One of his sons remained with his mother’s side of the family at the time of the incident, narrowly escaping the tragedy.
Chronology of the Tragedy
The incident, which occurred near the Data Darbar area, was initially met with flat denials from the police and relevant municipal authorities. For nearly 10 hours, officials insisted that no such accident had taken place.
The gravity of the negligence was exposed when the bodies of the woman and her child were eventually recovered from the sewage system, nearly 3 kilometers away from the point of entry.
Summary of Events
| Detail | Description |
| Location | Bhati Gate, near Data Darbar, Lahore |
| Initial Police Response | Total denial of the incident |
| Allegations | Torture and coercion of the husband (Ghulam Murtaza) |
| Outcome | Bodies recovered 10 hours later, 3km from the site |
The incident has sparked outrage on social media, with citizens demanding accountability for both the open manholes and the alleged police high-handedness.