Funeral prayers of estranged PTI lawmaker and television personality Aamir Liaquat Husain were offered on Friday, ending an hours-long deadlock between police and his family over the matter of the autopsy.
The funeral prayers were offered near the shrine of Abdullah Shah Ghazi. His son Ahmed Aamir led the congregation, which was attended by a large number of people, including noted politicians.
Aamir Liaquat was laid to rest at the shrine's graveyard.
Earlier today, a Karachi police spokesperson confirmed that the body of the PTI lawmaker had been handed over to his family after a preliminary examination and submission of a report by the police surgeon.
Family moves court
The development came hours after Husain's family approached a Karachi city court after the police refused to hand over the body for a funeral without an autopsy. However, his family resisted the decision and demanded the body for funeral that was scheduled to take place after Asr prayers.
The matter was later resolved in the presence of a judicial magistrate.
Earlier, the police maintained that they needed to conduct an autopsy of the body under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) that deals with procedures needed to be followed in cases of suicide and unnatural death.
Aamir Liaquat Husain passes away
The police had barred Chhipa welfare association from handing over Aamir Liaquat’s body to the family. It threatened that legal action would be initiated against the organisation if the body was handed over to anyone other than police officers.
Following this, his ex-wife Bushra Iqbal and children Ahmed Aamir and Duaa-e-Aamir approached the city court.
The police had said that a post-mortem can only be stopped by the court's order.
Controversial yet popular: Aamir Liaquat lived life in many forms
Family refuses autopsy
Bushra Iqbal had said that funeral prayers would be offered at the Jamia Masjid at Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s Shrine in Karachi after Friday prayers.
She also said Aamir’s children have decided against conducting an autopsy to determine the cause of death.
The TV personality and politician passed away on Thursday after he was found unconscious at his home in Khudadad Colony.
Reportedly, he had felt uneasiness on Wednesday night but refused to visit the hospital.
Reports said that domestic staff rushed to his room after he shouted in pain but the door was locked. They broke the door when they did not receive any reply from him.
Karachi DIG (West) Muqaddas Haider said that there were no signs of torture found on Aamir Liaquat’s body. He added that initial reports showed no foul play.