The detained suspects, identified as brothers Muhammad Imran and Muhammad Zaman, reportedly told police interrogators that they "killed" 15-year-old Francis Nadeem, and threw his corpse in a water canal near Marr Balochaan village, close to Punjab’s Nankanna District.
However the boy’s father, Sadeeq Masih, told BosNewsLife and investigators of human rights group Rays of Development (ROD) that he does not believe their version of events because the canals "have been dry" since December 1, 2007 due to extreme dry weather.
In addition, Francis Nadeem’s human remains have not been discovered, he said. "Till now police have totally failed in recovering the corpse…The culprits have not killed [my] teenage son as they are admitting in the police interrogation. Instead they have sold him to illegal human organ traffickers."
SEVERAL DISSAPEARANCES
He said "many people" have disappeared "mysteriously" in the area, apparently because a gang is involved in illegal human organs smuggling. It was not immediately clear how many Christian families were impacted by the apparent human organs trade.
Masih said he has been searching for his son since December 20 when the suspects of nearby village Mahesh Shumali came to their house and took Francis Nadeem with them. "They rented a motor bike from a ‘Rent a Motor Bike Shop’ and left for an unknown destination [with him] and never returned."
He added he managed to reach the suspects’ home, but was unable to find his son there. "Finally, after all the fruitless searches we registered a case against Muhammad Imran and Muhammad Zaman on Dec 27, 2007. at nearby Sanglla Hill Police Station," he said, his voice trembling.
SUSPECTS DETAINED
On January 14, Sanglla Hill Police arrested Muhammad Imran and Muhammad Zaman along with their maternal uncle Muhammad Zulfiqar on charges of "kidnapping" and keeping
Francis Nadeem in hiding.
The elderly and impoverished Masih said he doubts police will carry out an honest investigation saying the "culprits are rich and very influential." He added the kidnappers "heavily bribed police" to conceal the facts.
Police officials refused to comment on the case to BosNewsLife.
The troubles in Marr Balochaan underscores mounting concerns over growing tensions in several parts of Pakistan between majority Muslims and minority Christians. Many Christian believers are poor and have no equal access to education and law enforcement agencies, according to churches and human rights groups. (Read more from Jawad Mazhar via BosNewsLife partner site www.raysofdevelopments.org ).
