Stories We Carry
The Lynching of Mughees and Muneeb Butt in Sialkot
Mughees and Muneeb were two Pakistani brothers who were lynched by a mob on August 15, 2010, in Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan.
On 15 August 2010, a crowd lynched teenagers Mughees, aged 17, and Muneeb, aged 15, to death using hockey sticks, iron rods and other improvised weapons, with the support of the local police and Rescue 1122. The lynching was witnessed by a crowd of people, including nine police officials who apparently offered no intervention. One of the brothers escaped and asked the local rescue services 1122 for help, but he was denied and returned to the crowd, where he was eventually beaten to death.
The brutal killing of two brothers was recorded by some of the witnesses, which was later broadcast by the media. Mughees and Muneeb were subjected to continuous punches and kicks and were beaten with wooden beams and stones. Footage showed the youths protesting their innocence as they were beaten with sticks and wires, their bodies dragged with tractors and then strung up on poles. The lynching continued for over an hour. At one point, the screaming youths asked to be shot so their ordeal could end.
Mughees was beaten first and died at the scene. Muneeb tried to escape and sought help from Rescue 1122, but was dragged back and killed. Their bodies were hanged upside down on poles outside the door rescue office, a practice meant to serve as “public warning.”
The two brothers were accused on the spot of robbery, dacoity, and murder. Some reports say that the crowd believed them to be armed robbers who had murdered 20-year-old milkman Bilal Shaukat Ali and injured his 30-year-old brother Javed Shaukat Ali while snatching a mobile phone. However, a judicial inquiry revealed that the boys were completely innocent.
Investigation & Judicial Inquiry
A suo-moto was taken up by then Chief-Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who ordered a judicial inquiry. The investigative report, prepared by the Director General of Anti-Corruption, Kazim Malik, categorically stated that the boys were innocent and pointed out that there were multiple police officers present during the lynching, who not only failed to perform their duties by stopping the attack, but also encouraged the killing of the brothers. The Rescue 1122 staff also failed to assist, even when Muneeb tried to seek help inside their vehicle.
Motivations Behind the False Accusation
The boys were not robbers; they were reportedly returning from a cricket match. There was a personal rivalry involving a local businessman with connections to the local police. The businessman’s brother had been killed earlier, and the boys were falsely implicated in that death. The incident was the result of personal enmity and mob mentality.
Shams Ali, one of the accused involved in the killing, claimed that he carried out the murders at the behest of the former District Police Officer of Sialkot, Waqar Chauhan.
Court Proceedings and Verdicts
On September 20, 2011, the Anti-Terrorism Court Gujranwala (ATC) issued its verdict, sentencing seven people to death, six to life in prison, and giving all the policemen involved in the incident three-year imprisonment for criminal negligence, including then-DPO Waqar Chauhan.
The court described the act as a “crime against humanity” and declared the boys innocent.
The seven who were given the death sentence were scheduled to be hanged on April 8, 2016, in Sialkot. However, on October 23, 2019, the Supreme Court transmuted the death penalty to 10 years imprisonment.
