Meanwhile, the outrageous police cover-up has still not been properly addressed. The victim’s husband was allegedly harassed and tortured by police, who reportedly wanted him to either say that he murdered his wife, or that she ran off with another man. Some of the policemen have been suspended, but none have been arrested. Even though it is still early, we all know how the story goes for corrupt cops — spend some time on paid suspension and then get posted somewhere else, the only real punishment being that they must move to a less preferable city or locality. Torture by a government official carries a maximum sentence of-10 year imprisonment. Police violence is already abhorrent, but any cop who laid a finger on this man — mere hours after he saw his wife and daughter die — deserves to spend every day of that 10-year sentence in a cell.
In addition, senior officials from WASA and Rescue 1122 are being blamed for misleading claims that the water level was too low for drowning, misinformation that was parroted by Punjab’s information minister. Interestingly, the inept and criminal handling of the matter made Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif look brilliant in comparison by simply showing basic competence. She forcefully condemned the “criminal carelessness”, ordered the dismissal and arrest of negligent officials, and publicly apologised for the government’s failure — all things that should have happened anyway, but at least she was unequivocal, and unlike similar statements from the authorities in Karachi after every manhole-related death, corrective action has already been taken. Now comes the hard part — proactively taking action to address the manhole problem, and ensuring perpetrators of police violence end up behind bars, instead of behind new desks.