Snakebite death triggers protest in Tank

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Residents and students held a protest rally in Tank on Wednesday after a young man died from a snakebite, with demonstrators alleging that anti-venom was not available at the Civil Hospital.

The rally was organised by the Pashtun Student Federation and moved from City Campus Tank to Civil Hospital Tank. Students, political and social elders, and a large number of local residents took part in the demonstration.

According to the protesters, the youth had been taken to the hospital a few days earlier after being bitten by a snake, but he died because anti-snake venom was unavailable there. The death led to anger in the area, with residents accusing the hospital administration of negligence and of failing to ensure basic emergency treatment facilities.

The demonstrators, joined by the victim’s family, chanted slogans against the hospital administration and demanded that life-saving medicines and essential healthcare facilities be made available immediately in public hospitals so that similar incidents could be avoided in the future.

They also called for strict legal action against those they held responsible for the alleged negligence, saying officials should be made accountable so that administrative failures did not cost more lives.

Speakers at the protest said negligence in the health sector could not be accepted and warned that the protest movement would be widened if their demands were not addressed.

Police say minor boy was killed by father

In a separate development, police on Wednesday said they had solved the case of a minor boy whose body was found in the Chashma Right Bank Canal on April 17, saying that the child had been murdered by his father after a domestic dispute.

Police said the unidentified body of the child had initially been recovered from the canal and, since no heirs came forward at first, he was buried as an unclaimed body. The deceased was later identified as Muhammad Mehsud.

Speaking at a press conference alongside SHO Amjad Khan and Additional SHO Ismail Khan, DSP Asghar Ali Shah said investigators relied on CCTV footage and modern investigation methods to trace the suspect.

He said the accused, identified as Din Muhammad Mehsud, a resident of Upper South Waziristan, allegedly threw his minor son Muhammad into the canal in the presence of another young son.

Police said the initial investigation indicated that the incident arose from a family dispute. According to police, the accused had divorced his wife around nine years ago while she was pregnant. Police said the woman belongs to the Wazir tribe, while the accused belongs to the Mehsud tribe.

Investigators said a jirga decision on April 16 had granted custody of the child to the father. However, police alleged that the suspect killed the boy the next day in order to hurt his former wife.

Police said a case had been registered on the complaint of the divorced wife under Section 302 and other relevant legal provisions. They added that the accused would be produced before a court and that further investigation was under way.