- The pleas urge legal action against city officials.
- The victim Ibrahim, 3, fell into an open manhole.
- 23 citizens died in open drains this year alone: prayer.
KARACHI: Three separate petitions have been filed in a Karachi court seeking a murder case over the death of three-year-old Ibrahim who fell into an open manhole near the NIPA flyover.
The petitioners – Sheikh Saqib Ahmed, Abdul Ahad and Amir Ali – have filed their pleas against Karachi’s mayor, the city chairman, the BRT contractor and the director of the Water Corporation.
Tragedy struck late on Sunday evening when the child slipped into the uncovered manhole near a department store located at Nipa.
The plea, filed by Ahmed, claims that according to Edhi Foundation records, 23 citizens have died in open drains this year alone.
The petition highlights that rescue operations were delayed, forcing residents to hire heavy machinery themselves. They demanded that a case of murder be registered against the named officials and that a senior police officer of SP rank be appointed to oversee the investigation.
“Order a fair, transparent and impartial investigation by a competent police officer not below the rank of SP to determine [the] individual responsibility of each accused person,” the petition said.
The petition also urged the court to direct the concerned SHO and SSP Karachi East to provide full legal protection to Ibrahim’s legal heirs.
“… [it should be ensured] that no accused person, municipal authority, contractor or any person acting on their behalf shall exert pressure, coercion, harassment, threats, inducements or extortion on the bereaved family to compel a compromise or suppress legal proceedings.”
The petitions were filed a day after the boy was recovered – 14 hours after he fell into the open manhole. According to the father, the child ran forward “having slipped his hand” before falling into the manhole.
The boy’s grandfather, Mehmoodul Hasan, said the child was the couple’s only son.
Netizens flooded social media to express anger at the authorities’ failure to keep the well covered, while lawmakers also criticized the government in the Sindh Assembly and demanded the resignation of the mayor, Murtaza Wahab.
Responding to criticism, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon expressed condolences to the bereaved family and called the incident “criminal negligence”. Wahab, meanwhile, ordered an inquiry into the incident and expressed sympathy with the child’s family.
“I would like to express my condolences and stand with the parents at this difficult time,” he said, adding that politics were being played even over this unfortunate incident.
