Pak commits suicide by setting himself ablaze outside PM Secretariat

A man in Pakistan committed suicide by setting himself ablaze in front of the PM Secretariat in Islamabad, alleging injustice by police. Faisal Aziz, a resident of Murree, arrived at Gate 2 of the Prime Minister's Secretariat on Constitutional Avenue on Friday. He started chanting slogans against the Murree police, doused himself with a flammable liquid and set himself ablaze.

A police patrol rushed to save him by taking him to a nearby hospital but he died due to severe burns. Police initially maintained that Aziz committed suicide over negligence in the provision of medical treatment to a relative at a government hospital.

However, later Secretariat police station head Asim Gulzar declared that initial investigations into the incident revealed that Aziz had filed a complaint against an influential political figure of his area in a police station in Murree but no action was taken by police. Gulzar further said that Aziz in a statement to police before death claimed that he was receiving death threats from that person.

Police excesses are widespread in Pakistan and often go unnoticed as most of the people do not complain against them. Prime Minister Imran Khan took notice of the incident and ordered a probe.