Islamabad demands findings on death of 11 Pak citizens in India

Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi has established immediate contact with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), seeking details on the incident.

“Our High Commission in Delhi immediately contacted the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and asked them to share details including circumstances of death, copy of the FIR and investigation report,” he said during a weekly press briefing at the Foreign Office in Islamabad.

“The Indian side was also asked to provide immediate consular access to the family,” he added.

Chaudhri said that presence of the diplomatic mission’s doctor during the post-mortem was also requested.

“Since those who died were Pakistani nationals it’s incumbent upon us to ensure the incident is properly investigated and the finding of the investigation are shared with us. “

As per details of the incident, the Pakistani family had arrived in Rajasthan in 2015 on a long-term visa.

On August 9, 11 members of the family were found dead in a field in Jodhpur.

One member, who survived, claimed that his in-laws murdered his family over a dispute.

Police launched an investigation into the incident while forensic experts also took part in assisting the investigation.

Rahul Bharat, a police official said that “an investigation is being carried out to ascertain the exact cause of the incident”.

However, initial investigation suggested that the incident may have arisen from a family dispute.

The deceased family belonged to the Bheel community.

After the incident, 37-year-old Kewal Ram was the only surviving member of the family and was being interrogated by the local police.

Among the killed were Kewal Ram’s parents, brother, three sisters, daughter and two sons, and 75-year-old Budha Ram, who was the head of the family.

Pakistan has expressed serious concerns over the incident, tagging it with the situation of security and safety of Pakistani citizens in India.

–IANS<br>hamza/ksk/