Father of Australian girl shot by police while visiting Pakistan demands justice
The father of a nine-year-old Australian girl killed in Pakistan on holiday has demanded justice and to “reduce the harm” of a controversial new police
The father of a nine-year-old Australian girl killed in Pakistan on holiday has demanded justice and to “reduce the harm” of a controversial new police wing whose officers opened fire with machine guns in response to a robbery. Hania Ahmed and her family were visiting her great-uncle Ali Ejaz last week at his home in Chakwal, Punjab province. Robbers confronted the family outside Ejaz’s home late on Wednesday, demanding they hand over cash, jewellery and other possessions, Ejaz told the Guardian. He said Hania’s father, Adeel Ahmed, her mother, Hania, and brother Aafan, 11, had pleaded with them “don’t harm my family” and agreed to hand over their possessions. But within 30 seconds of that exchange, shortly before midnight, according to CCTV footage seen by the Guardian, officers from the crime control department (CCD), a newly formed Punjab police wing, arrived from a nearby station armed with machine guns and opened fire on both the robbers and the family, who were attempting to flee in a car. An eyewitness, who requested anonymity, told the Guardian that they had watched the incident from about 20 metres away.
“I could see the car speeding and the police officer firing straight at the car,” they said. “Then the two CCD officials stopped a passerby motorbike, sat on it and followed by three or four more police personnel in a car and chased the family car.” Nine-year-old Hania was killed in the exchange. The Guardian understands she was hit by four bullets and died before reaching the hospital. Her father, Adeel, 39, was reportedly shot twice but was not seriously injured, according to the CCD police chief, Sohail Zafar Chatta. The family had just returned from hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, and had been due to arrive back in Australia on Monday. The incident “has shattered the family and people in the area” and the family demanded justice, Ejaz said. Pictures of a blood-stained car with dozens of bullet holes spread on social media amid public criticism of the police response. On Monday, Punjab police said an officer had “mistakenly assessed that the suspects were attempting to flee in the victims’ vehicle and discharged his weapon”.
The officer has been suspended from duty, formally arrested and faced court, where he was remanded to judicial custody in jail, with police promising a “thorough, impartial investigation”. The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has also called for a “transparent and proper” investigation. Hania was a year 4 student at Australian Islamic College in Perth. Her brother Aafan was shot twice and was recovering in Benazir Bhutto hospital in Rawalpindi. Chatta had visited the family on Sunday and promised a transparent investigation, he said. Adeel Ahmed, Hania’s father, was said by friends and family still to be in shock, struggling to process the tragedy. In a recorded message he said those responsible should be punished “so that this incident does not repeat, and the dangers of the CCD are reduced”. “It was started by the CCD. The thieves did not start the firing first. They only fired in retaliation,” Ahmed said. “There were at least four CCD officials and they should be charged,” he said in the recorded message. However, Chatta said the armed robbers had started the firing – though he accepted that the CCD officer should not have fired at the car without confirming the armed robbers were in the vehicle.
The BriefWire