Justice for Rosham

Nine days after 17-year-old Rosham Hussain was shot dead inside his home in Manghopir neighbourhood of Karachi, his family is still sitting outside the police station with his body unburied. That a bereaved family should feel compelled to withhold its own son's funeral until the killers are arrested is a disturbing measure of how little confidence it has in the state's ability to deliver justice. Rosham was reportedly killed on September 8 when six armed men entered his house, two of them wearing police uniforms. Police say a seven-member investigation team has been formed and that significant clues have been obtained. But after nine days, the public needs to see tangible progress. The most obvious lead appears to be the digital evidence. Investigators reportedly identified seven mobile phones active at the location around the time of the incident, with two inside the house and five outside. If these phones have been identified, investigators should be able to establish the numbers, trace the registered SIM holders and examine their movements and contacts. That evidence should then be corroborated with CCTV footage and other available data. There is an even more troubling dimension. Two men allegedly entered the house dressed as police officers. For an ordinary citizen, a police uniform is supposed to signify protection and authority. If criminals can use it to gain access to homes, it becomes a weapon of deception. This is why the case deserves scrutiny beyond the murder itself. The family's protest should not have to continue indefinitely for the machinery of the state to demonstrate that it is functioning. Nor should the unburied body of a 17-year-old become the instrument through which citizens seek the attention of the authorities. What the state can still do is ensure that his killing does not become another unresolved case in Karachi's long catalogue of street crime.