The death of nine-year-old Hania Ahmad in a police shootout in Chakwal has set off a wave of anger online and drawn coverage from major international news outlets, with many calling out the Crime Control Department (CCD) for what they say is a pattern of unchecked violence and demanding accountability that goes beyond an inquiry.
The Perth-based family was caught in crossfire on the night of June 10 after CCD personnel mistook their car for a getaway vehicle during a robbery. Hania died from gunshot wounds. Her father and brother were wounded. Her mother survived unhurt.
The story was picked up by ABC, The Guardian and SBS, all of which highlighted that the family – Australian nationals from Perth’s suburb of Kewdale – had been on holiday in Pakistan when they were caught in the crossfire.
The Pakistani Association of Western Australia General Secretary Asim Chaudhry told an international media outlet that the tragedy had devastated the local community. “It’s like it’s our own girl, and we are with them wholeheartedly and the whole community is standing with them,” he said.
Back home, social media users were quick to react, with many pointing to the CCD’s track record of extrajudicial killings.
“The killing of an innocent girl in Chakwal by CCD is deplorable. Our hearts go out to the family for their loss and trauma. This should never have happened. But when you empower a force to be the judge, jury and executioner, then tragedies like this are bound to happen,” one user wrote.
Another kept it brief: “CCD making international headlines and for all the wrong reasons”.
A user noted that the CCD had been given a free hand in Punjab to carry out extrajudicial encounters with no one to hold them accountable, adding that the bullet marks on the family’s car alone showed the scale of the indiscriminate firing.
Others focused on the human toll. “Devastated by the incident in Chakwal. A family flew from Australia to visit home. They survived an armed robbery, only for CCD officers to mistake their car for the suspect’s and open fire. Nine-year-old Hania didn’t make it,” one post read.
“I can’t stop thinking about her parents. They got through the robbery believing the worst was over, only to lose their child moments later. Hania was failed by the very people entrusted with protecting lives. Accountability cannot end with a suspension or an inquiry. If these units cannot do their jobs without killing innocent people, and are this incompetent, they shouldn’t be carrying weapons in the name of public safety”.
Questions were also raised about why senior Punjab police officers had stayed silent. “Why is the Punjab police chief reluctant to take ownership and responsibility of its uncontrolled crime control department? Why has a subordinate department been made to clarify its position on its own?” one user asked.
Punjab CCD Additional IG Sohail Zafar Chatha, in a statement to a private media outlet, acknowledged that the officer involved had made a wrong call in the heat of the moment.
“In the ensuing chaos, the officer involved mistakenly assessed that the suspects were attempting to flee in the victims’ vehicle and discharged his weapon,” he said, calling the incident “a grave deviation from our established Standard Operating Procedures and the legal standards governing the use of force”.
A constable has since been detained and sent to jail on judicial remand by a local court in Chakwal.
