By Syed Muhammad Rizwan

I have been called “Mummy Daddy Bacha” since my teenage as I never use to get permission of going out late night or going on trips with friends. Well now I am 25 years old but still same rules apply at my home. I used to regret it as all of my other friends had such understanding parents, they always allow them to be out late and go whereever they wished to go but now I realize that it’s better to be safe than to be sorry. Within 20 days it’s the second case reported that a young guy is found dead; Shalem Bhatti died on last Sunday, 10am. His body was sent to the hospital by his friends at 10am; he actually died 6-7 hours prior to that. But even that isn’t correct. He didn’t die, he was killed.

Shalem went out with his friends on Saturday night, excited that they’ll have fun. Around 10am, Shalem’s family got a call from his best friend, Ahmed Paracha that Shalem had passed away. They asked the body to be sent to NMC because that was the hospital they were closest to. The body arrived in a terrible condition. The clothes were dirty, there were no shoes, the face was black and blotched with purple marks, the lips were purple. He didn’t look like Shalem at all. What’s worse was, the body was taken out of the ambulance and not one friend, not one out of the 6 other friends, accompanied the body. On sight, doctors claimed that Shalem had died 6-7 hours before. Why the body had been brought to the hospital so late by his friends? 3 of the 6 friends fled the city immediately. The other three showed up at NMC. Ahmed Paracha also brought his family along. His family tried to take matters in their hands and offered ‘financial assistance’ to Elisha Panda Bhatti, the deceased’s sister. At the same time, Ahmed tried to convince Jack Bhatti, Shalem’s brother that Shalem had been depressed and the death was most probably suicide. Thankfully, Jack knew better.
At the hospital, the three friends were interrogated by the police and their stories of what they did and how the death happened did not match. One of them actually said that upon seeing Shalem die, they called a Careem. Not an ambulance, a Careem! But they cancelled the ride because six guys couldn’t seem to pick Shalem up. Then they apparently started giving him a mouth to mouth at 6am. But the question is, did they give him a mouth to mouth for 4 hours? Because they informed the family at 10am. The ambulance driver was also questioned and he claimed that he found the body on the floor in a room that was locked from outside. The body was moved to Jinnah for post mortem, on the way to which two friends who had accompanied Ahmed also fled. Ahmed was put behind bars. The reports showed the death was due to poisoning. In accordance, Ahmed was interrogated. Initially he refused to break, but then he did. He confessed that the friends had forced Shalem to take a pill, telling him they’ll take it too but they all put in their own pockets, because they knew it would kill. He also confessed that they planned on dumping the body.
Ahmed is still behind bars, the case is still going on, and the police is on the lookout for the other 5 boys.

And that is how my dear friend was killed by his own friends. Ahmed Paracha and Shalem had been best friends for 5 years. Some days ago one of my childhood friend was also killed in same circumstances. Jauher Hasnain, he also went to farmhouse on 29th April 2017 with his friends & next morning his family got a call by his friends that he is no more and they are taking him to Abbassi Shaheed Hospital Karachi. The remaining story is quite the same as the so-called friends fled and police is still investigating.

The accusers might get punished but nothing can return what was snatched from their loved ones. Shalem or Jauher did not deserve that. They were both young with so much potential in them; Jauher Hasnain was a sportsman who got many scholarships on his unique talent in basketball. Nothing can replace what their families have lost.