As reported in Dawn, the autopsy report of the deceased papad vendor was unable to confirm that the man was tortured or beaten to death. Nor do police have video evidence to confirm the man's cause of death.
Despite the lack of video or forensic evidence, police arrested at least 12 suspects in connection to the case, including the owner of the wedding hall for allegedly deleting CCTV camera footage of the event.
The murder garnered national attention after a video went viral purportedly showing the wedding guests continuing with their dining and festivities as the body of the slain man laid in the middle of the wedding hall floor.
The first information report (FIR) of the incident states that the wedding guests got into a fight with the papad vendor, Mohammad Ashraf, who they believed was a pick-pocketer, beating him up and then dragging him inside the wedding hall.
On March 21 at about 4pm, witnesses claimed they saw five to six people beating up the vendor outside the Al Jannat Marriage Hall. The suspects had reportedly started an altercation with the street vendor over the purchase of some rice crackers.
A report prepared by the Chunian assistant commissioner’s office also confirms the sequence of events described in the FIR.
The victim was reportedly unmarried; his brother Aslam has been named to receive the compensation amount of Rs.500,000.