Bhikhiwind (Punjab), May 2: The body of Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who died early on Thursday following a brutal assault by other inmates of a jail here, was handed over to officials of the Indian high commission by Pakistani authorities.
A special Air India aircraft reached Lahore to bring back the body of the death row prisoner who died early today in a hospital, six days after being brutally attacked by prison inmates in Kot Lakhpat jail.
A Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson said that the aircraft returned this evening with Sarabjit’s body and two members of the Indian team.
The body was received by Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur at Amritsar.
Samples from the body were sent for forensic tests and the final report on the autopsy is expected to be submitted in two weeks, sources said.
Foolproof security was put in place at Jinnah Hospital for the handing over of the body. Dozens of police commandos were deployed in and around the hospital. Sarabjit, 49, succumbed early on Thursday to injuries sustained during a brutal assault by other inmates of Kot Lakhpat Jail on Friday. He was hit on the head with bricks and cut with knives fashioned from spoons.
Family members of Sarabjit Singh have reached their hometown Bhikhiwind where his body will be brought to from Pakistan.
According to reports, Sarabjit’s body will first be flown in a special Air India plane to Amritsar, where it will be kept in a hospital mortuary for further post-mortem tests. The body will be released by the unidentified hospital on Friday morning and flown by helicopter to Bhikhiwind.
The funeral rites of the dead Indian prisoner are expected to take place around 2 p.m. on Friday, reportedly with full state honours. The Punjab Government has declared him a martyr and decided to give him a state funeral at his ancestral village.
Sarabjit Singh’s sister Dalbir Kaur, today lashed out at Pakistan for her brother’s death and called for a war against the country. Chanting “Pakistan Murdabad”, Kaur said she was appealing to all parties to come together to give Pakistan an ‘appropriate answer’.
“I appeal to all political parties to come together and support Prime Minister Manmohan Singh It’s time to wage a war against Pakistan”, she said.
She also alleged that human rights activist Ansar Burney had asked for a huge amount to get Sarabjit back to India.
“Had I paid Rs. 25 crore to Ansar Burney, Sarabjit would have returned to India,” Kaur said. She also said that her brother had been dead even while he was in hospital in Lahore, and doctors and nurses had laughed at them.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/sarabjits-body-brought-home/
