Balochistan [Pakistan], March 20 : Several women were injured after Pakistani police used batons to disperse families gathered outside Quetta's Civil Hospital, as reported by The Balochistan Post.
The relatives had assembled to identify bodies brought in by security forces. The violence erupted on Wednesday when families of forcibly disappeared persons, along with human rights activists, attempted to enter the hospital to view the bodies, The Balochistan Post reported.
Last week, Pakistani forces had transferred 23 unidentified bodies to the facility. The police charged the crowd without warning.
"A large group of people, including women, children, and elderly, were peacefully gathered to identify the bodies when police suddenly started baton-charging, injuring several women," one eyewitness stated.
The situation worsened after reports surfaced that 13 of the unidentified bodies were secretly buried at Quetta's Kasi graveyard late on Tuesday night. Local residents claimed to have seen police and official vehicles quickly bury the bodies before leaving the area, as reported by the Balochistan Post.
The covert nature of the burial raised suspicions among families, who feared that their missing loved ones could be among those buried without identification.
Following public protests and increasing outrage, authorities allowed some families into the hospital on Wednesday evening, where five bodies were identified and returned to their relatives, the Balochistan Post reported.
In a separate incident, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) organized a large protest rally to condemn the targeted killing of Shah Jahan Baloch, the 11-year-long enforced disappearance of Chairman Zahid Baloch, and the ongoing systematic violence perpetrated by the Pakistani state and its affiliated death squads in Naal, Khuzdar district of Balochistan.
Security forces in Balochistan have been accused of widespread atrocities, including extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, and violent crackdowns on peaceful protests. These actions, often linked to the state's efforts to suppress dissent, have left Baloch communities living in fear, with numerous cases of abuse going uninvestigated or unresolved.
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