KARACHI: A farmer was hospitalised with severe burn injuries after he was allegedly set on fire by a landlord and his aides in Kot Ghulam Mohammad taluka of Mirpurkhas district on Saturday.
Thirty-year-old Roopchand Bheel, a resident of Mithi taluka in Tharparkar district had travelled to Kot Ghulam Mohammad to find work. According to Mirpurkhas Action Committee chairman and human rights activist Kanji Rano Bheel, a landlord named Mir Abdul Rehman Talpur in Rabo village, Deh 308, accused the farmer of stealing 25 kilogrammes of cotton and had him detained in a room at his guesthouse.
Bheel was severely tortured by Talpur’s employees, who later set him on fire in the presence of the landlord. The labourer was rushed to Kot Ghulam Mohammad’s taluka hospital and later taken to the Mirpurkhas Civil Hospital Mirpurkhas, where doctors recommended that he should be taken to the burns ward of the Karachi Civil Hospital. “The burn injuries cover 80 percent of his body,” said surgeon Jawahar Lal.
After the incident became public, a protest demonstration was held in the premises of the Mirpurkhas Civil Hospital by the Mirpurkhas Action Committee. The committee, led by Kanji, demanded the higher authorities immediately register the first information report (FIR) of the incident and ensure that the landlord and his accomplices were put behind bars.
“Talpur is an influential landlord and he, along with his accomplices, tried to kill the innocent farmer,” Kanji said. Digri SPO Mir Aftab Talpur said that only an inquiry would reveal the actual events that took place, however, it appeared that the farmer was indeed kept at the guesthouse after he was accused of stealing cotton and a fire broke out there.
The police officer said that no complainant had reached the Kot Ghulam Mohammad police station for the registration of the case yet.
