Paposh Nagar Graveyard

Paposh Nagar Graveyard
پاپوش نگر قبرستان
Details
Abandoned	February 2017
Location	Paposh Nagar, Karachi
Country	Pakistan
Coordinates	24°55′41″N67°01′20″E / 24.928136°N 67.022344°E / 24.928136; 67.022344
Owned by	Karachi Metropolitan Corporation

Paposh Nagar Graveyard is one of the oldest graveyards located in Paposh Nagar, Karachi, Pakistan. ^[1]

In 2011, the cemetery drew attention as the site of a criminal case. ^[2]

In February 2017, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation has banned burial in Paposh Nagar Graveyard due to lack of availability of space. ^{[3] [4]} But despite the ban, people are illegally burying corpses. ^{[5] [6]}

Necrophilia case (2011)

Click to show details of the 2011 necrophilia case

In October 2011, a graveyard caretaker, Mohammad Riaz, was arrested at the Paposh Nagar graveyard in Karachi after being caught sexually assaulting a recently buried corpse. ^[7]

During interrogation, Riaz confessed to repeatedly defiling the bodies of women over a period of roughly eight years while working as a groundskeeper responsible for watering plants and maintaining the graves. Local reports cited approximately 48 victims. ^[8]

Riaz claimed that he was introduced to the job by another gravedigger named Wazir, who had died two years earlier, though this statement was never independently verified by authorities. ^[9]

Following his confession, Riaz was charged under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, including offences against burial places and sexual assault. The case gained national and international media attention and sparked public debate about the lack of specific legal provisions addressing necrophilia in Pakistan.

References

1. Altaf Ahmad Khan Mujahid (21 December 2018). "کراچی کے قبرستان' مٹی میں آفتاب". nawaiwaqt.com.pk. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
2. "Necrophilia: Man arrested from graveyard with bone-chilling story". tribune.com.pk. The Express Tribune. 30 October 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
3. "کراچی کے 8 قبرستانوں میں تدفین پر پابندی عائد". urdu.geo.tv. 1 February 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
4. "Burials in most Karachi graveyards continue despite 'official' ban". dawn.com. 12 June 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
5. "'وہ دادا کی قبر پہلے ہی فروخت کر چکے تھے". independenturdu.com. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
6. "قبرستانوں میں گورکھ دھندے ،قبرفروش سرگرم". juraat.com. 14 December 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
7. "Man arrested from graveyard with bone-chilling story", The Express Tribune, 30 October 2011. Tribune.com.pk
8. "Graveyard caretaker held for necrophilia", Pakistan Today (Archive), 30 October 2011. Archive.PakistanToday.com.pk
9. "Man arrested from graveyard with bone-chilling story", The Express Tribune, 30 October 2011.

Notable burials

• Ibn-e-Safi (1928–1980), fiction writer, novelist and poet of Urdu
• Mulla Wahidi (1888–1976), writer and journalist
• Ibn-e-Insha (1927–1978), writer
• Mohsin Bhopali (1932–2007), poet
• Mufti Rashid Ahmad Ludhianvi (1922–2002), Islamic scholar
• Dr. Mohammad Ali Shah (1946–2013), orthopaedic surgeon
• Ghulam Farid Sabri (1945–2011), Qawwali singer
• Maqbool Ahmed Sabri (1930–1994), Qawwali singer
• Amjad Sabri (1976–2016), Qawwali singer
• Zaheen Tahira (1949–2019), film and television actress, producer and director
• B. M. Kutty (1930–2019), journalist, public servant, politician
• Quraish Pur (1932–2013), scholar, writer, novelist, columnist and media expert