GUJRANWALA: In a tragic incident, a man who set himself on fire inside a Gujranwala police station on Tuesday in protest against police conduct succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday.
The man, identified as Ubaid Ur Rehman, had been seeking justice for the abduction of his wife but claimed that the police refused to arrest the suspects named in the FIRs. In an act of desperation, Ubaid poured petrol on himself inside the police station and ignited the flames. He passed away in the hospital on Wednesday.
A similar incident occurred in June, when a man in Lahore committed self-immolation outside the Central Police Office (CPO) to protest police behavior.
The man, identified as Sabir Sohail, had been trying for over four months to secure justice for his homeless children after a group allegedly occupied his small two-marla house in the Ashiana Housing Society, Nishtar Colony. Sabir had repeatedly approached various police officers, from the SHO to the SP, in an effort to reclaim his home from the alleged land grabbers.
A few days before the incident, Sabir doused himself with petrol outside the office of IG Punjab Dr. Usman Anwar. According to sources, when Sabir set himself on fire, a police constable attempted to save him but was too late. The constable sustained burns on 22% of his body, while Sabir suffered deep and critical burns covering 44% of his body.
