‘Fake encounters’ with Pakistani forces lead to torture and death

Outcry is growing in Balochistan over the number of people abducted by security officials who often disappear foreve

Supporters of Balochistan Students Organization-Azad protesting against kidnappings by Pakistani security forces. Photograph: Asianet-Pakistan/Alamy

Shah Meer Baloch in IslamabadSun 6 Nov 2022 08.00 GMT

Tabish Wasim, 22, a poet, was abducted in front of his ailing father in a private hospital in south-west Pakistan on 9 June 2021.“Three men forcefully came inside the room, they blindfolded Wasim and took him away. Two men were from the Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force, wearing the uniform,” his father, Muhammad Shareef, 65, remembered, shortly after he buried him. “My cousin tried to stop them but they pushed him back and put my son in the car and went away. It all happened in front of my eyes.”