Update
Lahore High Court on Wednesday granted post-arrest bail to an underage driver involved in the fatal car accident in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Phase Seven that resulted in the death of six members of a family last year.
Proceedings of the case
Suspect Afnan Shafqat’s lawyer stated that three co-suspects have been found innocent in police investigation. Additonally, the geofencing of the incident also showed that witnesses were not present at the scene.
The court also inquired whether the suspect, who was 17 and a half years old at the time of the accident, was declared a juvenile. To this the lawyer confirmed that the police declared the suspect a juvenile in the charge sheet.
He said as per law, if the trial does not start within six months, bail should be granted.
Victim’s lawyer opposed the bail and argued that the discrepancies in the versions of his client were due to state of shock when he gave the initial statement and provided a supplementary statement once he regained his composure.
He stated in front of the court that the statements of the witnesses are not relevant to the bail petition.
The bench observed that the decision on bail would be based on the available evidence.
The victims’ lawyer told court that the suspect did not merely hit the vehicle accidentally, but he forcefully hit it with intent.
Forensic report
The court was told a forensic report of the vehicles was still pending and a medical board had been formed to assess the juvenile status of the suspect.The lawyer argued that a decision on the bail should be made in light of the medical board’s report.
Bail granted
Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi, the head of the judicial bench allowed the bail petition of the suspect after furnishing surety bonds.
Case so far
The Punjab police is yet to receive the test reports of Afnan Shafqat, the primary accused in the death of six members of a family while driving a car without a license in DHA Phase 7, Lahore.
According to sources, the Polygraph and Photogrammetric test of Afnan was conducted by the Punjab Forensic Science Agency. The polygraph test is conducted to detect lies while the photogrammetric test is a part of forensic analysis where an accurate 3D reconstruction of an accident or crime scene is done especially in cases where position, distance, and perspective are important to determine.
However, police has not received the Ossification test conducted to determine the age of Afnan. Police will further proceed with the case after receiving the results of reports, reports The News.
On November 23, an anti-terrorism court in Lahore handed over the underage driver Afnan Shafqat to the police for five days on physical remand. During the hearing, the investigation officer (IO) of the case told the court that the age of suspect was over 17 and a medical test was required to determine his actual age.
Meanwhile, Judge Abher Gul Khan extended the pre-arrest bail of the suspect’s father Shafqat Ali till Dec 4, reports Dawn.
Previously, another suspect named Ibrahim, a friend of the teenage boy Afnan, also sitting in the car with him when the car got into an accident in Defence Phase 7 has been arrested by the police.
According to a report by the Dawn News, four of the friends were there in the car when the tragic accident took place. They were Saad, Ali and Ibrahim along the prime accused Afnan.
The police has started the process of Ossification to determine the age of the suspect. Lahore Investigation DIG Imran Kishwar said the decision was made following the conflicting reports/claims either he was underage or a teen. Initially, the police were told that the prime suspect was 17 years old, he said.
The Ossification is a test that determines age based on the degree of fusion of bone by taking the x-ray of a few bones. This process of the bone formation is based on the fusion of joints between birth and the age of 25 years in an individual.
The police added terrorism and murder charges to the already registered case against a teenage boy who killed six of a family in DHA Phase 7, Lahore. On the other hand, head of the family who was in the other car expressed his disappointment over this new development. Rafaqat Ali claims that the boy killed his family members over a grudge.
He alleges that the boy was not alone at the time when he ‘deliberately’ hit the car of his family while driving his four-wheeler at high speed (over 100 km/h) at Phase VII. He also mentioned that the two other accomplices were also accompanying him in the car at the time of the incident, reports Dawn.
The prime suspect had a prior brawl with his family members when they chased his car on the road, to which he demanded the addition of more sections to the FIR to punish all the suspects.
The Police has stated that the boy was chasing the family in the car and on interruption at a point he had threatened the family that he would not let them drive in DHA’s jurisdiction, another act that reflected his ‘mindset’.
The police had sent notices to the accomplices as mentioned in Rafaqat’s statement.
New revelations are coming up as the investigation continues in the case of a teenage boy who killed six people of a family in a road accident in DHA Lahore.
Crackdown on Young drivers
In light of the accident, the Lahore chief traffic officer (CTO) said the police lodged 998 cases against underage drivers during the last three days and sent many of them behind bars, besides seizing their vehicles, including motorbikes.
Caretaker CM Naqvi also issued a directive to be strict against underage drivers.
The proceedings of the case up till now
Previously, In a geo.tv report, Azam Malik reported that the teenage boy, Afnan, was stalking the car of the deceased victims after he had a brawl with them. The driver of the car Hasnain, reprimanded Afnan for harassing the women travelling with him, raising the speed to dodge Afnan but the boy kept following him.
A third car that was following them was being driven by Hasnain’s father. At some point, near Y Block’s Nala, the two of them stopped the car to scold Afnan but the boy remained adamant and cursed at the two in response.
The stance of the Punjab government
The Punjab government has stated that Afnan hit Hasnain’s vehicle near McDonald Chowk in Phase 7 at a speed of 160 km/hr. As a result, Hasnain’s car overturned and fell some 70 feet away. Four people came to rescue Afnan but left him after seeing the rage of the crowd. Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi has told IG Punjab to add sections of terrorism against the accused.
The proceedings of the Court
The family of the victims have alleged that the police is not cooperating with them. Previously, the judicial magistrate at Cantonment Courts on Tuesday sent the boy to jail on judicial remand whereas the police asked for a physical remand. The counsel for the suspect denied the charges, leading to the magistrate turning down the police’s request.
The catch in the case
The case lodged by the police is in line with the statements of the witnesses that the boy was driving the car alone which led to the accident, claiming the lives of six people including two children but a video statement released by the Lahore Traffic Police on Twitter showed the boy himself claiming that he and his friends were going to the McDonalds in Phase Seven in a high speed when they hit the victim’s car.
Read More: Boy who killed six of a family in accident says he was going to have McDonald’s
