Pak police brutality: Woman passenger in train assaulted; bystanders watch in silence

A policeman brutally beating a woman identified as Maryam Bibi and her two children from Jaranwala on the Millat Express has taken centre stage in Pakistan and has exposed police brutality in Pakistan.

Initial details published in a report by ARY News released on Saturday stated that the policeman identified as Mir Hassan, posted in Hyderabad, allegedly tortured a woman and two children on a moving Millat Express on April 7.

The video of Hassan went viral on social media, eventually reaching the mainstream media of Pakistan.

According to the report, the policeman in the video could be seen holding the woman by the hair and hitting her multiple times while people watched silently, despite the victim screaming to stop the beating immediately.

The report quoted Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Railways Abdullah Sheikh, saying that ‘the culprit was arrested and a case had been registered against him’.

However, the same report mentioned that the cop was granted bail against a bond of PKR 35 thousand.

Later, a report by Geo News quoted Pakistan Railways spokesperson Babar Ali Raza saying that the cop was repeatedly asking the passenger to vacate as she was allegedly occupying the seat of another person.

According to Raza, eyewitnesses informed that “first the passenger himself asked her to get up from the seat but when she started scattering his belongings, he approached the police. Police constable Mir Hasan begged the woman, identified as Maryam, for about 20-25 minutes to get up from the other passenger’s seat, but she refused,” he added.

Contrary to this statement, The News International quoted the victim’s brother, Afzal, who said that his sister used to work at a beauty parlour in Karachi and she was coming to Jaranwala to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr.

It was later revealed that Maryam had mysteriously died near the Chani Goth Railway Station in Bahawalpur.

“We buried her on April 9 in the village, thinking it was a train accident. When the video went viral, the truth behind the incident and the violence against my sister came to the fore,” Afzal added.

Afzal alleged that the policeman tortured and killed his sister and threw her body on a railway track, adding that they requested the police register a case but no action was taken.

Meanwhile, the woman’s nephew, who was travelling with her, said that his aunt was reciting loudly, to which the policeman objected and started torturing her.