Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, head of the Pakistan Hindu Council and a member of the federal assembly from Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, has accused New Delhi of denying Islamabad access to the witnesses and crime scene in a case involving the death of 11 Pakistani Hindu migrants in the Indian city of Jodhpur last August.
"Our High Commission has been denied access to the crime scene, despite repeated requests. Under international law, we have the right to seek information about the incident since it involved Pakistani passport holders. Now, there is a lot of family pressure on our government to approach the UN Human Rights' Council," Vankwani told Sputnik.
“We will be approaching the UNHRC and raise the matter at the next session of the UNHRC in Geneva, scheduled to take place between 21 June and 9 July,” he said.
The Pakistani senator also pointed out that the relatives of the deceased in the country’s Sindh province have already filed a complaint demanding a “fair probe” into the Jodhpur incident.
“The daughter of the one of the persons killed has rejected the claims by the Indian government. We don’t believe it was a case of suicide and believe they were killed,” stated Vankwani.
The 11 Pakistani Hindu migrants were found dead under mysterious circumstances on a farm in the city of Jodhpur, located in the western state of Rajasthan, last August.
Police had at the time described the incident as an open and shut case, telling reporters that the family members committed suicide due to distress arising from an internal dispute.
Superintendent of Police (Rural) Rahul Barhat, who was posted in Jodhpur at the time, said that all the family members had consumed some chemical and there was no foul play involved, as he ruled out the role of any third party.
Reports in Pakistani media have identified the deceased—Budha Ram (80), Raivy(35), Shamoon (25), Antar (75), Shrimati Lakshm (39), Shrimati Devi (28), Mukadas (16) Zain (12), Dayaal (12), Danish (10), and Diya(5)— as members of the Bhil community, who had come to India back in 2012 and rented a farm to get by.
