LAHORE: A local court in Lahore on Monday acquitted five individuals accused in a case involving the deaths of a mother and her toddler, who died after falling into an open manhole near Bhati Gate, ARY News reported.
The acquittal followed a compromise reached with the victims’ family.
Judicial Magistrate Shafqat Abbas conducted the hearing, during which the complainant appeared before the court to record his statement. He stated that he sought no further action against the accused and had no objection to their release or acquittal.
Based on this compromise, the court accepted the bail petitions of the accused against surety bonds of 50,000 PKR each and ordered their release.
The acquitted individuals include Project Manager Asghar Sindhu, Safety In-charge Hanzala, and Site In-charges Ahmed Nawaz, Usman, and Salman.
The Bhati Gate Police Station had originally registered the case against them following the tragic incident.
A woman and her nine-month-old daughter lost their lives after falling into an open sewage drain near Bhati Gate on January 28, 2026.
The child’s body was recovered approximately 17 hours later, nearly eight kilometres from the site, while the mother’s body was recovered around six hours after the incident.
Initially, the rescue teams and other officials termed the incident fake. Despite repeated pleas from the victim’s family, the district administration denied the incident, but the position changed after the mother’s body was recovered.
An inquiry committee formed by the Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) earlier completed its investigation into torture allegations of Ghulam Murtaza following the Bhati Gate incident in Lahore, in which his wife and nine-month-old daughter lost their lives after falling into an open manhole.
According to the inquiry report, three police officers — the SP City, the SDPO, and the concerned SHO — were found responsible for negligence. The committee stated that Ghulam Murtaza, the husband of the Bhati Gate victim, was subjected to torture inside the SHO’s retiring room, allegedly in the presence of the SP.
The inquiry committee was constituted to probe allegations of custodial torture after the victim’s husband was taken into custody following the incident. The panel was headed by AIG CIA Imran Mahmood, with DIG Ahmed Nasir Aziz and DIG Imran Kishore as members.