MULTAN: Contractor Touqeer Nazir, the suspect in the death of 15-year-old orphan Waseem Abbas, has claimed that his car skidded while he was attempting to stop the teenager from running away from work, resulting in the fatal incident at a private housing society.
Touqeer said that Waseem had repeatedly left work without permission. He claimed that he initially chased the boy on foot but could not catch him, prompting him to return and bring his car.
Touqeer said he spotted Waseem near a street corner and accelerated, intending to position the vehicle ahead of the teenager to block his way. However, he claimed, the car skidded and failed to stop, while Waseem slipped and became trapped between the vehicle and a house’s gate.
Eyewitnesses, however, disputed the suspect’s account, claiming that the incident was not an accident and alleging that the car had deliberately been driven into the teenager.
Speaking to the media, Shoaib Haider, general secretary of the orphanage where Waseem had lived, said the teenager had been residing at the facility for five years and wanted to learn electrical work.
He said Waseem had been working with Touqeer for only six days before the incident.
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Haider questioned the contractor’s explanation that the car had skidded, saying the available video footage did not apparently support the claim. He said the incident appeared as though the teenager had been struck deliberately, while adding that the circumstances surrounding Waseem’s decision to leave work would need to be established during the investigation.
Haider also said another boy who had been working with Touqeer was brought back, although he did not provide further details.
Meanwhile, Waseem’s paternal uncle, Jafar Hussain, accused the suspect of killing his nephew and demanded justice for the family.
Hussain said Waseem’s father had died nine years ago and that the boy had been admitted to the orphanage by his maternal grandfather and paternal uncle.
In the meantime, Waseem’s funeral prayers were offered late at night in his native village of Mouza Daulatpur in Muzaffargarh, where he was subsequently buried in the ancestral graveyard.
According to local reports, the funeral was held promptly because of the condition of the body. Close relatives and officials of the orphanage attended the funeral.
Police have arrested Touqeer in connection with the case. The investigation is continuing to establish the circumstances of the incident and determine whether the teenager’s death was accidental or deliberate.