BHAKKAR: An anti-terrorism court in Sargodha sent the now infamous ‘Bhakkar cannibals’ on a seven-day physical remand, just a day after it was discovered that they were back to consuming human flesh, Express News reported on Tuesday.
The police also installed barbed wire outside the house of the brothers.
The brothers were first arrested in 2011 and after serving time in prison, they were released and allowed to return to their village.
Police had arrested Arif, one of the two brothers, when the head of a toddler was recovered from their derelict home in Kahawar Kalan town near Darya Khan. Officials had conducted a raid when neighbours complained of a putrid stench emanating from the two-bedroom house.
Arif confessed to having cooked and eaten the rest of the body. Although he frequently changed statements, he admitted that the two have been eating human flesh since they were released.
His brother Farman had managed to flee, but was later arrested by police.
A new case under Article 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act; Article 16 of the Maintenance of Public Order as well as 201, 297 and 295-A was registered against the accused in which the police is complainant.
Background
The brothers had returned to the neighbourhood 10 months ago after being released from prison, where they had served a term for stealing and consuming the remains of a girl from the graveyard in 2011.
The trial continued for approximately two years, culminating in a year-long prison term and Rs200,000 fine each. While the sentence ended in May 2013, the brothers were released two months later as they had been incarcerated during the length of the trial.
Last year, during his visit to the Mianwali prison where the brothers were held, then chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry said that the inmates languishing in jails despite having served sentences should be released after the government arranges their fine. Arif and Farman were subsequently discharged.