Three men arrested in Pakistan for forcing child to lick hot axe head ‘to prove innocence in theft case’

Some are said to settle disputes by resorting to this gory practice in the absence of judicial system

FILE: Pakistani civil society activists take part in a protest after a child was raped and murdered in Karachi on 12 January 2018. Three men have been arrested in Pakistan for forcibly making a child lick a hot axe in order to prove his innocence in a theft case (AFP via Getty Images)

Three men in Pakistan have been arrested for forcibly making a child lick a smouldering axe in order to prove his innocence in a theft case, local media reported.

The Border Military Police of Fazala Kachh in Tuman Buzdar in the country said that the three men accused a shepherd named Tehseeb of stealing a teapot. They then forced him to prove his innocence by licking the tip of a hot axe.

Dawn reported that Tehseeb suffered burns on his tongue and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

The exact age of the victim was not clear from the reports. The child’s father, Jan Muhammad, later filed a complaint with the police against the three men.

The three, identified as Siraj, Abdul Raheem and Muhammad Khan were later arrested by the police.

The Dawn reported that the tribal Baloch sometimes use the “draconian water and fire” tests to prove the innocence of someone suspected to be involved in any crime. It said that as per these tests, if a suspect remains underwater for a specified time and comes out alive, he is considered innocent and if he comes out before time, he is considered guilty.

Similarly, it reported that a person is considered innocent if they remain unscathed after licking hot iron. Otherwise, they are punished.

As per the latest statistics, eight children in Pakistan were abused every day in one form or other in 2020. The data showed that in more than 80 per cent of the cases, the abuser was known to the child.

As many as 2960 cases of major crimes against children were reported in the four provinces of Pakistan in 2020, as per data.

Meanwhile, on social media, many reacted with disgust to the news. One user said: “This is what happens when you normalise violence and glorify beastly behaviour in a country.”

Another said that this was a “shame.”