Pak prisoner found dead in Jammu jail

Pak prisoner found dead in Jammu jail

By Snehesh Alex Philip

JAMMU/ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday asked India to repatriate all its nationals who have completed their prison sentences on humanitarian grounds following the alleged suicide of a Pakistani prisoner in Jammu jail.
The Foreign Ministry said the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi has been asked to submit a report on the alleged suicide by 42-year-old Showkat Ali.
“This is an issue we have raised earlier too. All prisoners who have completed their term should be sent back on humanitarian grounds,” Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam told PTI.
She said the issue of prisoners on both sides should be handled in a humanitarian manner.
“We have asked our High Commission in New Delhi to let us know what exactly happened and if it is a suicide what led him to do so. Our mission is in touch with the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson,” she said.
According to the Jammu police, Ali, who hailed from Sialkot in Punjab province, ended his life late last night by hanging himself from an iron grille inside his barracks.
He had been lodged in the jail since 2011.
An inquiry by a magistrate has been ordered into the alleged suicide and Ali’s body was sent to a government hospital for autopsy.
The body would be handed over to Pakistani authorities after legal formalities are completed, police said.
Since December 2013, two Indian prisoners have died in jails in Karachi.
According to lists exchanged on January 1 between the two countries, there are 281 Indian prisoners in Pakistan while 396 Pakistani prisoners are in Indian jails.

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