The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the Sindh government to pay a compensation of Rs1 million in the Amal Umar murder case.

On August 13, 2018, 10-year-old Amal Umar was killed in a crossfire between police and two robbers soon after they mugged her family in Karachi’s Akhtar Colony. The bullet that hit her was fired by a policeman.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmed, who was heading a two-member bench, ordered that Rs500,000 should be paid to Umar’s parents and the remaining amount should be paid to Rah-e-Amal Trust in line with the government’s policy regarding compensation for murder victims.

Justice Gulzar said negligence exists in the basic training provided to police officers and they aren’t even aware as to where to shoot and where not to. Street crimes in the city are increasing and the police always know who is involved in the crime and who isn’t, the top judge said. He gave an example of a recent robbery where the snatcher also took the schoolbag of a boy.

A person will be helpless if four robbers have their weapons pointed at him, Justice Gulzar added.

Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, on the other hand, said that robberies on the roads can’t be stopped and that’s the failure of the policing system.

The court ordered that all relevant bodies, including the police, be ensured to follow the recommendations of the inquiry committee, while the court directed the police to take action against the policemen involved in the incident.–Sabah