Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned a mob killing of a young boy and his mother as a “day of shame” for the country.
In a joint press conference with the new Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Khan addressed the death of Akash, a 12-year-old from Quetta, and Muhammad Haroon, his mother. On Wednesday morning, residents reportedly caught Haroon while traveling on his motorcycle. When the boy and his mother refused to stop, they were attacked by the crowd, who reportedly believed the pair had been engaged in smuggling drugs.
According to a Reuters report, witnesses alleged that authorities did not intervene as the two were tortured, shot, and dumped in a canal. Haroon reportedly survived the initial bullet wounds.
The first public condemnation came hours after Haroon’s corpse was found.
“The prime minister is disappointed by the incident,” a Pakistani government official told Reuters. “When a young boy with a mother is killed on the road, that’s when they know we’re in trouble.”
In their first joint press conference as leaders of their countries, Imran Khan and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina also spoke about steps to limit violence, while trying to ease fears in their countries that their countries are being destabilized by the looming elections in March.
“People are not happy with any political leaders,” said Khan. “No political leader should expect anything from the public.”
At the end of the two-hour press conference, addressing the mob killings in Quetta, Pakistan, Hasina condemned the incident as “an attack on democracy and human rights.”
Read the full story at Reuters.
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