ISLAMABAD: Mukhtar Ahmed Rathore, father of five-year-old Umar Rathore, who was murdered in Bhara Kahu after being kidnapped for ransom in 2019, rejected the Supreme Court’s decision to commute the two death sentences awarded to the killers to life imprisonment and termed it a murder of justice.

Addressing a press conference at the National Press Club along with his daughter, son, son-in-law and other family members, he appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to reconstitute the case and ensure justice so that no other person or family has to go through such a tragedy in the future.

He said otherwise he and his entire family would be forced to commit suicide in front of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Rathore said that on December 21, 2019, his five-year-old son was brutally murdered by four boys from the neighbourhood in Bhara Kahu after being kidnapped. His body, with his mouth, hands and feet taped, was found in a cupboard in a rented house.

He said that in 2023, three accused were sentenced to death twice after being found guilty by the trial court, while one accused was acquitted after being given the benefit of doubt.

The sentence was later upheld by the Islamabad High Court. However, the accused filed appeals in the Supreme Court, which on May 13 converted the two death sentences into life imprisonment.

Rathore termed the verdict complete injustice, a murder of justice and a licence for brutal killers to murder innocent people.

He said the Supreme Court did not provide any concrete reason for reducing the sentence, despite the fact that fingerprints and DNA matches of the three accused were found in the case and the accused had also confessed to the crime.

He said the verdict deeply shocked the heirs of the deceased because the innocent child had been brutally murdered without any enmity.

“These brutal accused should have become an example, but unfortunately the Supreme Court has killed justice,” he said, adding that the family would file a review appeal against the verdict.

The boy, Umar Rathore, disappeared on December 21, 2019, from his house in Dhok Jillan. Later, his father, a superintendent at Oil and Gas Development Company Limited, got a case registered under Section 364-A of the PPC at the police station.

After three days of efforts, police detained a man on suspicion and during interrogation he confessed to kidnapping the boy and disclosed the location where the victim was being kept by one of his accomplices. He also disclosed the identities of his accomplices.

One of the accomplices was the victim’s cousin and next-door neighbour. Police arrested him and later raided a house located about a 15-minute walk from the victim’s residence. The body of the boy was found inside a cupboard, recklessly wrapped in tape.

Police also arrested two more accomplices along with the landlady of the house. Out of the four accused, three were sons of government officials.

During interrogation, the accused revealed that they had planned the kidnapping for ransom around two months earlier and had rented the house for that purpose.

One of the accused also arranged unregistered SIM cards for ransom calls. The victim’s cousin secretly picked up the boy from his house and took him to the rented house where he was detained.

Police said the extensive search operation launched with urgency and commitment frightened the kidnappers, who later separated and postponed making the ransom call.

On the third day, the accused responsible for taking care of the boy allegedly gave him sedatives and, after he fell unconscious, wrapped him in tape, placed him inside the cupboard and left the house.

The boy remained unattended for two days and died inside the cupboard.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2026