Canberra, June 25: The grandfather of Hania Ahmed, a nine-year-old Australian girl killed in a police shooting in Pakistan, is calling for justice. Earlier, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had urged for a transparent investigation into the incident.
Mazhar Hussain Chauhan, Hania’s grandfather, stated, “Whether we get justice because of her (Australian PM Anthony Albanese) or the police, we just want justice.”
Chauhan recounted that the victim’s family was robbed at gunpoint. Hania had traveled from Australia to visit relatives in Pakistan. The family had gone to a relative’s house for dinner in Chakwal district, Punjab province. Chauhan mentioned that they returned home while Hania stayed with her family. Three hours later, he received a call informing him of his son’s accident.
“I had no idea about the gunfire,” Chauhan said. Upon arriving at the hospital, he saw his granddaughter’s body. He recalled, “I saw my granddaughter’s body on a stretcher, and my son and grandson were injured. The police and doctors were doing their jobs.”
The incident began with a robbery and escalated into a shootout. Two robbers held Hania’s family at gunpoint outside their relative’s home, demanding jewelry. The Crime Control Department (CCD) of Pakistan claimed that the robbers opened fire on an officer present at the scene. However, Hania’s father, Ahmed, asserted that the police fired first.
As the family attempted to flee the chaos, a police officer continued shooting at their car, believing that robbers were inside, resulting in Hania’s death and injuries to her brother and father. According to the autopsy report, Hania was shot at least five times and died instantly.
The CCD was established in 2025 to curb crime in Punjab, Pakistan. However, human rights groups, including the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), had already raised concerns about the department’s use of force prior to Hania’s death.
In early February, the HRCP criticized the CCD for adopting a policy of staged encounters in Punjab, leading to extrajudicial killings, which severely undermined the rule of law and constitutional protections in the province.
Citing various media reports, the HRCP documented at least 670 encounters attributed to the CCD over eight months in 2025, resulting in the deaths of 924 suspects, along with two police officers.
The HRCP noted a climate of fear among the victims’ families. One family reported being pressured by police officers to bury the deceased immediately and claimed they were warned that pursuing the case could lead to harm for other relatives. They described such threats as criminal acts that significantly obstruct justice.
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