Afghan child killed in Karachi in fight over garbage collection

A 5-year-old child, Shehzad Gul, was beaten to death in what is being described as a dispute over garbage collection between two groups in Surjani Town, Karachi, reports Dawn.

The horrific incident took place in Sector-4B. Shehzad Gul was one of three children and had two sisters.

The dispute erupted between two Afghans over the collection of garbage, which led to the murder. The suspect(s) had been identified and police were waiting for the family to lodge an FIR to formally initiate legal proceedings.

The victim’s father, Gul Mohammad, told reporters that he had been collecting garbage from houses for the last one month. On Friday, his son and a daughter accompanied him to collect the garbage.

During the work, he left both children for a while and went to another street and when he returned, he learned that his son had been injured after being hit with a hard and blunt instrument.
He rushed the child to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) where doctors confirmed his death.
The grief-stricken father said that he had been receiving “threats” from a man who had got the contract of garbage collection earlier. He suspected that his son was killed over that dispute.
“I am a poor labourer who earns Rs13,000 on a monthly basis through garbage collection,” said the father.