Rawalpindi Police conduct of couple polygraph test in 8-year-old maid’s murder case

RAWALPINDI: Police investigating the murder of the eight-year-old maid have decided to conduct a polygraph test on the couple (suspects) and forensic analysis of their mobile phones to strengthen the evidence against them.

The police said besides a DNA test, a voice sample test and an analysis of the mobile phones would help them gather solid evidence against the suspects.

The CPO in a statement said a challan would be prepared against the suspects with solid evidence so that they could be brought to justice.

Besides, some videos and images have been recovered showing the couple putting the minor girl in a cage and torturing her.

On the other hand, City Police Officer (CPO) Mohammad Ahsan Younis on Monday contacted the father and grandfather of the minor girl and assured them that the police were doing their best to bring the suspects to justice.

He also told them that legal assistance and security would be provided to them.

Earlier, the couple had been handed over to the police on a four-day physical remand which was extended for three more days on Saturday.

Asad Bukhari, the legal counsel for the parents of the girl, told Dawn that the girl’s father was a labourer and could hardly afford even paying one-way fare from his home in Muzaffarghar to Rawalpindi.

“How can they arrange a car for transportation of the police investigating officer to court and other places when they have not enough money to pay the bus fare for themselves,” Mr Bukhari said.

He alleged that the police investigating officer had asked the father of the girl to put his signature on a blank paper during his visit to the police station to take over the custody of the girl’s body.

But Mr Bukhari believed that the CPO had taken the case very seriously and would help in conducting a fair investigation into the case to provide justice to the parents of the girl.

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Comedians Vasay Chaudhry and Shafaat Ali test positive for coronavirus

As the total number of coronavirus cases continues to increase in Pakistan, some of the most well-known celebrities have confirmed that they’ve tested positive for Covid-19.

The latest local celebs are comedians Vasay Chaudhry and Shafaat Ali.

“I have tested positive for Covid-19 and self quarantining. I have no symptoms. My family tested negative. I have already notified people I have come in contact with recently to get themselves tested and self isolate, if need be,” wrote the Jawani Phir Nahi Ani actor on Twitter.

Ali also made the announcement on social media:

Talking to Images, he shared that his symptoms were aggressive but he was getting along. We’re hoping both of them recover soon!

KP records co-morbidities in 85pc victims of coronavirus

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has recorded co-morbidities in 85 per cent of the people, who died of Covid-19, compared to 74 per cent among the nationwide deaths happened due to the pandemic, according to official reports.

Two separate reports compiled by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department and National Emergency Centre (NOC), Ministry of Health Services Regulations and Coordination have shown the pre-existing health conditions, their age groups, gender and ventilation status of the people dying of Covid-19.

The provincial report said that among the deceased, 36 per cent suffered from cardiovascular diseases (CVD), 31 per cent from diabetes, 10 per cent from hypertension, five per cent from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), three per cent from chronic kidney disease (CKD) and 15 per cent didn’t have ailment but died due to the pandemic.

Report says most mortalities suffered by men with 81pc of them above 50

On June 4, 541 people fell prey to the epidemic in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They included 286 in Peshawar, of whom 273 remained on ventilators and 13 died either in high dependency or isolation wards.ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER AD

In Swat, 25 of the overall 53 people dying of the pandemic stayed on ventilators.

In Malakand district, total deaths numbered 37 due to the virus with 21 of them receiving mechanical ventilation in the hospitals while in Abbottabad 12 of the 22 dead persons remained on ventilation.

A total of 349 people remained on ventilators.

The report said that most of the mortalities were suffered by males with 81 per cent of them above 50 years. It showed that 29 per cent (157) of the dead people were among age group of 60-69 years; 27 per cent (143) were in age group of 50-59 years; 19 per cent (100) in age group of 70-79 years; 13 per cent (72) were in age group of 40-49 years; six per cent (31) were above 80 years; four per cent (23) 30-39 years; two per cent (10) in age group of 20 -29 years while two of the dead people aged were between 10-19 years.

The countrywide ratio of deaths in male was 73 per cent, the NOC report said.

A total of 2002 deaths analysed by the NOC on June 6 revealed that the dead persons were aged between one to 102 years with median age 60 years. Of them, 74 per cent were above 50 years.

At the national level, 55 per cent of the deceased persons remained on ventilators as opposed to KP where 64 per cent stayed on ventilators with average stay of two to 9 days, it said.

The report said that 76.8 per cent of the confirmed patients recorded nationwide were below 51 years while four of the deceased aged between one to 10 years.

According to it, 1461 of dead people were male, 540 female and one transgender person. About the health workers, the NOC report said that healthcare providers had died of Covid-19 including 18 doctors, eight paramedics, two nurses and one medical student in all the provinces.

SC tells govt to take Covid-19 seriously

• CJP asks govt to adopt national legislation instead of using executive orders for SOPs enforcement
• Bench seeks record of aircraft, other measures being taken to tackle locust invasion

ISLAMABAD: With at least two judges contracting the novel coronavirus, the Supreme Court on Monday reminded the federal government to take the health emergency seriously and come up with a uniform national legislation.

“This becomes important more so when the passing of the executive orders to deal with the pandemic has trampled and affected the fundamental rights of people,” said an order dictated by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed.

“We are also feeling the heat in this court as two judges have tested positive,” observed the Chief Justice of Pakistan while heading the SC bench that had taken up a suo motu notice of the prevention of coronavirus.

Instead of the five-judge bench, the SC bench hearing the case on Monday comprised only four judges, who were seated at some distance from each other.

Also, the hearing of challenges to the filing of the presidential reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa was postponed till June 11 due to the unavailability of one of the judges of the 10-judge full court of the Supreme Court.

Legislation at national level

About the coronavirus situation in the country, CJP Ahmed observed: “Difficulty is this that no law has been passed despite the fact that we have been emphasising for adopting the law at the national level which should be applicable to the entire country.”

Altering its May 15 direction that shops may not be closed on Saturdays and Sundays owning to the Eid festival, the four-judge SC bench in its fresh direction allowed the government to make policies in accordance with its strategies to meet the Covid-19 threat.

Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan observed: “I don’t think that any province will have any problem on agreeing with a uniform law.” He said all four provincial governments could sit and come out with the law.

He said it was a national emergency as the fatalities were on the rise with more than 100,000 people being affected by the disease.

Justice Ahsan suggested to the federal government to take the lead as the deadly virus never distinguished between the people.

The observations came when Attorney General for Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan said the federal government was “making all-out efforts to contain” the spread of the virus, but requested the apex court to lay emphasis on the enforcement of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in its order as it would then carry more weight.

The CJP observed that Covid-19 was a national problem and should be taken at the national level. “Why the legislatures cannot function when other institutions are functioning,” Justice Ahmed remarked while recalling how China, followed by other countries, immediately made the law when the virus had started spreading.

“You want to stop all activity through the executive order. [It] is not permissible since it encroaches upon the fundamental rights of the people,” the chief justice declared, observing that the government could not just implement SOPs by holding press conferences.

“The executive orders and the legislative functions were totally different,” the chief justice reminded the attorney general.

Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Naqvi wondered why the government could not sit with open arms and find a solution to the current issue through proper legislation.

“Time is the essence and the federal government does not have much time to deal with the situation,” Justice Ahsan highlighted.

The attorney general assured the court that he would advise the government for adopting a uniform national policy.

The chief justice recalled how the Supreme Court in its April 7 order had highlighted the importance of national level legislation, but nothing in this regard had been done till date. Therefore, he said, the federal government should take this matter seriously and ensure legislation at the national level.

The court was not happy when a member informed the bench that 100 labs across the country were conducting coronavirus tests. It asked the NDMA to furnish details of the machines imported for DESTO to produce personal procurement equipment.

Referring to sanitary workers, the court ordered that the government ensure that without the protective kits, the workers were not allowed to enter or work inside manholes for cleaning or related activities. The apex court ordered the government to ensure protective laws by taking measures within a period of two weeks.

Locust invasion: aircraft record sought

About the locust threat, the court summoned complete record regarding acquiring of an aircraft from Turkey on wet lease for spraying insecticides on the affected areas.

According to the court order, such documents must include full details regarding the number of employees, who rode with the plane, the salary and emoluments paid to them, so also the details of service so far provided by this plane.

The court also sought explanation for non-utilisation of the remaining three planes of the Plant Protection Department. “This is necessary, for when Pakistan had four aeroplanes for spraying purposes why the need was felt for the obtaining of an aeroplane on a wet-lease and yet, we note that three aeroplanes are still not in operation,” the order said.

The court also expressed its dismay that only one Beaver aircraft was operating out of the four with the Plant Protection Department though three helicopters were also in operation to combat the menace of locust attack in addition to 96 vehicles.

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) representative Idrees Mehsud told the court that a survey of 26 million hectors had been conducted and 529,000 hectors of this area had been treated so far.

The SC in its order observed that locusts had been in Pakistan for a long time and they had completed two cycles of their breeding in the territory of Pakistan. The court noted that all-out efforts had not been undertaken to combat this menace.

According to the apex court, there is no doubt that the locusts pose a serious danger to the agriculture sector in Pakistan, in that it may wipe out most of the agricultural production and there may occur serious shortage of agricultural goods.

“This shortage of agricultural goods may lead to a shortage of food for the people. Thus, we note that the locusts have to be immediately dealt with and totally eradicated from Pakistan with due promptitude in order to ensure that it does not cause substantial loss to the agriculture sector of Pakistan,” the order said.

Therefore, it added, the Department of Plant Protection as well as the NDMA should file a categorical and comprehensive report in this regard before the next date of hearing.