Hindu man beaten in Pakistan forced to reconcile

Islamabad: An elderly Pakistani Hindu who was brutally beaten by a policeman for publicly eating during the holy month of Ramadan, is being pressurised to ‘forget and forgive.’

Gokal Das, 85, was thrashed by a policeman and his brother in Ghtoki district of Sindh province last week.
The family says, the accused men are consistently trying to resolve the issue through the Hindu Panchayat (a council of local elders) and are persistently sending their representatives to the victim’s family to settle the issue out of court. However, the victim’s family has refused to co-operate.

Gobind Ram, the son of Gokal Das said at least 20 persons, representing the accused, visited his father and tried to persuade him to settle the matter out of court.

He said that they might have pardoned them if they had come earlier. “But, now it is too late because a case has already been registered. Let the law take its course.”