Jailed blasphemy accused dies under mysterious circumstances

KARACHI – A man who was accused of blasphemy and sentenced life imprisonment died under mysterious circumstances at the Central Jail Karachi on Tuesday. Qamar David was arrested by the Saddar police for violating the blasphemy laws in 2006. He was later shifted to the central jail.
The court sentenced him life imprisonment when he was proven guilty in 2010. He was carrying out his sentence until he died under mysterious circumstances. A prison official told Pakistan Today that according to one report, David was crying for help in the wee hours, and he was still breathing when the prison staff reached his cell.
The official said that the prison staff immediately called rescue service to move David to the hospital; however, he was pronounced dead at the Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK), and his body shifted to the mortuary. He said that as per some prison staffers, David was found dead inside his cell in the morning. The prison staff shifted the body to the hospital, he added.
According to DSP Raja Mumtaz, David was taken to the hospital for treatment, which means he was found alive in his cell. He said that according to the prison staff, David was crying for help and his hand’s placement suggested that he was suffering from pain in the left side of his chest. The prisoner was shifted to a small healthcare centre for treatment at first, but the doctors then recommended taking him to the CHK, he added.
He claimed that David was taken to the CHK for treatment at around 10:45 am and was alive at the time he was shifted to the hospital. The DSP said that the prisoner died of cardiac arrest during treatment. David’s son Aqeel told Pakistan Today that his father’s case was about to be resolved, and that the family had been considering filing an appeal in the high court for rehearing of the case.
He said that David belonged to Lahore and had arrived in Karachi in the previous decade. The prison administration informed David’s family about his death after 10 hours had passed, he protested. He also said that the family was residing in Lahore and facing immense difficulties in reaching Karachi to collect David’s body for burial.
The family initially tried to travel by air, but since they received the information of David’s death quite late, they were unable to book seats and were forced to travel by train, he added.