Emeute à Karachi mars 2009
Woman drowns in drain, riots follow
25 mars 2009
KARACHI: A 21-year-old woman who came to Karachi after she got married 25 days ago, drowned in a sewerage drain located in Sultanabad area, Hijrat Colony within the jurisdiction of Jackson police station on Tuesday.
As per details, a newly married woman, Khema, wife of Khaki Khan, fell into a drain from the pulya (small bridge) while she was trying to save a child from falling in the drain. The woman’s brother, Sher Khan said that they hail from Mansehra. His sister and husband recently arrived in Karachi to visit their relatives.
The drain water has grass growing over it where the incident happened. The people can easily walk over the grass growing in that particular area.
The residents of the area tried to rescue the woman by cutting the grass and diving into the drain as the authorities concerned were unavailable in the area. The people were angered and decided to stage a protest at the Mai Kolachi Road.
The residents claimed that it was the third incident. Earlier, two children drowned in the same drain and their bodies have still not been recovered. “Action should be taken against the authorities concerned so that such incidents do not take place in the future,” they said.
The angry mob blocked the busiest thoroughfare for hours, pelted stones on passing vehicles and burned tyres on the road.
Following this, heavy contingents of the police and Rangers were called at the scene to ease the situation however they took time to control the situation as the protestors retaliated.
The law enforcers finally resorted to baton charges and tear gas to control the situation, further worsening it. The situation simmered down only when higher authorities reached the scene and offered the protesters their full cooperation.
As the drain is covered by grass, the volunteers from different welfare associations were unable to recover the woman’s body and the City District Government Karachi’s machineries were used in the rescue work but the woman’s body was still not recovered by the time this report was filed.
According to eyewitnesses, the woman was alone when the incident took place. They said that the woman was trying to save a child who had slipped into the drain. She lost her footing and fell into the drain.
It is believed that more of these pulyas are located in the area. DSP Javed Iqbal Bhatti said that the efforts for the recovery of the woman’s body are continuing.
Keamari Town Nazim Humayun Khan told Daily Times that the drain ends in the sea while adding that efforts to recover the body are underway. “It was an accident,” he said. The people usually encroach areas over the sewerage drains, which make cleaning of these drains difficult for the city government.
Meanwhile, a 26-year-old man, Akbar died when he fell in a ditch in Block-7, within the jurisdiction of Gulistan-e-Johar police station. Police officials said that construction work on a private project was in progress and the ditch was dug as a part of it. Sadly it claimed Akbar’s life. It is pertinent to mention here that on Monday a 12-year-old boy drowned after falling in a manhole in the Gulberg area.
anthropologie du présent 