A Man Claims His Leg Was Cut Off on a Public Beach After He Refused to Pay a Bribe

In a shocking turn of events, a street vendor claims his leg was torn off by a tractor on a public beach after he refused to pay a bribe to a municipal employee in Pakistan’s coastal city, Karachi. The privately contracted tractor company claims it was an accident, police said. 

On August 30, Muhammad Abid and his 10-year-old son were in their regular corner selling water to wash sand off beachgoers’ feet when a man known only by his last name, Sarfaraz, came up to Abid and demanded protection money, called “bhatta,” Abid’s uncle Allahbaksh Derasha told VICE World News.

Sarfaraz works as a supervisor at the municipal authority and had regularly been extorting money from Abid in exchange for keeping his corner at the beach, Derasha said. That day, Abid couldn’t afford to pay the bhatta and pleaded with Sarfaraz for a reprieve.

But Sarfaraz ignored Abid’s pleas, and ordered a tractor driver who was clearing the beach to run over Abid. The driver then ran the tractor over Abid’s right leg, severing it completely, according to Derasha. 

Abid’s son witnessed the whole thing and, terrified, began screaming for help, Derasha said. Bystanders gathered at the scene caught Sarfaraz and called the police and an ambulance. 

But the ambulance arrived before the police, said Abid’s lawyer Jibran Nasir, so the bystanders pushed Sarfaraz into the ambulance to prevent him from escaping. Then, the unconscious Abid ended up riding to the hospital with Sarfaraz right next to him.

At the hospital, Sarfaraz introduced himself to staff as Abid’s relative, and to Abid’s family members as an attendant - the lawyer Nasir said, adding that Sarfaraz managed to steal the medical-legal report.

A video seen by VICE World News showed Sarfaraz standing in front of Abid’s hospital bed and audibly stating that he witnessed the incident. 

Then, Abid’s amputated foot went missing from the hospital. The lawyer said Sarfaraz stole it, too.

Karachi has a long history of extortionists targeting informal small shop owners and street vendors. Street vendors represent 72 percent of the city’s informal economy but have no legal protections. Instead, they often become targets of “anti-encroachment” drives by local authorities and police. Gangs or corrupt officials offer protection from these drives in exchange for protection money. Hawkers who fail to pay up often become victims of violence.   

Police are investigating whether this was what happened in Abid’s case. They said they were looking for witnesses.

Sarfaraz has been charged with causing injury by negligent driving and with deliberately causing permanent disfigurement. Police have yet to locate him and the tractor driver.

Meanwhile, the tractor company claimed the incident was an accident, a police official told VICE World News. Abid was being asked to move to make way for construction work, and when he refused to do so, one of two tractors in the area inadvertently ended up running him over, the company told police.

An official from the Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC), an autonomous municipal body that governs the area, denied that Sarfaraz ordered the tractor driver to run over Abid. 

In the video from the hospital, Sarfaraz was seen wearing a cap bearing the CBC logo.

“Sarfaraz is only a supervisor in the area who looks after the duties of the Cantonment Board. The tractor and the driver are privately contracted. CBC has nothing to do with the onus of the driver or vehicle,” said CBC assistant secretary Sajjad Nazir.

“The incident that occurred was highly unfortunate, however, the report that is being given is not possible. No matter how much one is opposed to a situation, is it possible for a human being to give such an order?” 

But Abid’s lawyer Nasir said the incident was not an isolated case. In 2020, Nasir represented the family of a fruit seller who died from a heart attack after men who claimed to be CBC officials came and started destroying street vendors’ carts. “In these anti-encroachment or extortion collection drives, you often see people losing their lives,” said Nasir. 

Which is why many believe street vending should be regularised. 

“If a vendor is using a space on a street or a pavement, he won't be able to do his trade without having to pay a number of entities under the table. That is where this form of extortion comes up. If street vending is legalised, these groups won't be able to charge them anymore,” Karachi-based urban planner Farhan Anwar told VICE World News. 

Indelibly shaken by the incident, Abid is forced to stay home. “He is crippled now. His leg is gone. His mind is broken. A complete silence has fallen over the house,” his uncle Derasha said. 

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