KASUR: The Pattoki tehsil administration on Wednesday sealed the marriage hall where some guests at a function allegedly tortured a rice cracker vendor to death suspecting him to be a pickpocket.

       The incident drew public ire when video clips of the wedding guests relishing the dinner close to the body of the vendor went viral.

       Police had already arrested 12 suspects and the hall owner. They did not seek remand of the suspects for not putting their arrest in the record, a police official told Dawn.

       Pattoki circle DSP Asif Hanif said police had not received any video showing torture of Ashraf. He said the incident was shrouded in mystery and police had already arrested 12 suspects and would not make any more arrest without having concrete evidence of lynching and forensic report confirming the cause of the death.

       He further said there were no torture marks on the body of the victim. What’s a matter of alarm, he said, was the callousness which people displayed as shown in the video clips.

       On Monday, guests at a function allegedly lynched a vendor who died on the spot, dragged his body into the hall and later had their dinner.

       MATRICIDE: A man axed his mother to death on the pretext of honour at Taraida Makhnayki village.

       Aslam suspected that his mother was involved in the elopement of his younger sister who had left the house on Monday. After an exchange of words, Aslam hacked his mother to death and escaped.

       Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2022