 "Kirpal Singh: Death due to natural causes or murder? A look at similar cases in the past")
The body of Indian prisoner Kirpal Singh, who was held captive in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat prison since 1992, arrived in India on Tuesday. Singh reportedly died under mysterious circumstances, as his family claimed that his body bore injury and blood marks.
The medical board, which conducted a post-mortem examination on Singh’s body, after he was brought back to India, however refuted these claims. They said that while a few vital organs were missing from Singh’s body, due to a previously conducted post-mortem examination in Pakistan, there were no signs of internal or external injuries.
Ashok Sharma, head of the three-member medical board has been quoted in media reports, saying, “When we opened the body, we found that some of the organs were missing because when post-mortem is done, some organs are taken to test to find out whether there is any disease or not.”
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He further added that the cause of death had not been ascertained yet.
Here is a look at the case:
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Who was Kirpal Singh?
Kirpal Singh, a former serviceman from Gurdaspur, allegedly crossed the Wagah border into Pakistan in 1992. Since then, he was arrested and lodged in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat prison.
After his arrest, Pakistani authorities accused him of being an Indian spy. He was later convicted in a serial bomb blast case within Pakistan and sentenced to death. This sentence was later converted to 20 years of imprisonment.
The case so far
Pakistani officials claimed that Singh complained of chest pain, after which he was admitted to the intensive care unit of a hospital.
He was soon declared dead by doctors, after he suffered a heartattack, said Pakistani officials.
Going by the history of torture and abuse that Indian inmates face in Pakistani prisons, Singh’s family however claimed foul play in his death.
"He has been murdered by the Pakistanis under a conspiracy. He was the sole witness to the murder of Sarabjit Singh in the Lahore prison. We want a thorough inquiry and post-mortem to know the truth of his death," said Singh’s nephew.
‘Kirpal Singhs’ of the past
Pakistani prisons have been notorious for the manner in which they treat their Indian prisoners. Kirpal Singh’s sudden death and the conspiracy that surrounds it, is just one among many similar cases in the past.
One of the first and most prominent cases of torture within Pakistani prisons is that of Captain Saurabh Kalia. Kalia, along with five of his colleagues were taken as prisoners of war by Pakistan during the 1999 Kargil war, before their dead bodies were handed over to India.
Post-mortem examinations revealed that all six soldiers were tortured during their time of captivity. Their bodies were burnt with cigarettes, ear-drums pierced and eyes punctured, among other grevious injuries. These soliders were then shot dead.
Another prominent case of Indian inmate deaths in Pakistan is that of Sarabjit Singh. Sarabjit, a farmer from Punjab, was arrested by Pakistani authorities from an unmarked Indo-Pakistan border area, on the night of August 30, 1990.
Just like in the case of Kirpal Singh, Sarabjit was also labelled a terrorist and a spy, and convicted of a serial bomb blast attack in Pakistan. He was then sentenced to death.
During the evening of April 26, 2013, Sarabjit was allegedly beaten up by fellow Pakistani inmates, after which he was admitted to Jinnah Hospital with severe head injuries and a broken backbone.
Sources indicated that this attack on Sarabjit was planned in revenge of Afzal Guru’s execution in India, for his role in the Parliament attack case.
Sarabjit was reported dead on May 2, 2013.
Chamel Singh, another Indian farmer and prisoner of Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail, was also reportedly “mercilessly beaten” days before his death by the Pakistani prison staff.
Tehseen Khan, a Pakistani lawyer and former inmate of the same prison, upon his release, told the media that he was witness to Chamel’s plight. Khan said that Chamel was assaulted for using water from a tap to wash his clothes, two days after which he breathed his last at Jinnah Hospital in Lahore, on January 15, 2013.
Media reports quote Khan saying that other Indians in Kot Lakhpat jail, including death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, faced a "grave threat."
In 2015, as India and Pakistan exchanged a list of civilian prisoners in their respective countries, it was revealed that there are 403 Indians, including 355 fishermen lodged in Pakistani jails.