Twisted Tale of Corpses, Cannibalism Riles Pakistan

It's not the first time the 2 brothers are accused of eating human corpses
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 15, 2014 10:53 AM CDT
Twisted Case of Suspected Cannibalism Riles Pakistan
Pakistani police officers escort Farman Ali, right, and Arif Ali, two brothers suspected of cannibalism to a local court in Sargodha, Pakistan, Tuesday, April 15, 2014.   (AP Photo/M.I. Haq)

The smell was foul, but the aftermath is shaping up to be much worse. The dark case that has swept Pakistan's attention, and began, sort of, with complaints to police about an unpleasant odor coming from the rural home of Muhammad Arif. Police in Punjab Province's Bhakkar district went to investigate, and were greeted with a baby's head and a macabre tale from Arif: According to the police chief, he told them his older brother had taken a 2-day-old child's body from its grave, that they cooked the corpse and ate it, reports the AFP. What makes the case all the more unusual is that that isn't exactly its start: The two had previously been jailed for digging up bodies, which they said they ate.

As the New York Times explains, cannibalism isn't actually a crime in Pakistan, so though the brothers confessed to eating the remains of five people in 2011, they were jailed for nearly 18 months for the exhumation. (They were rumored, at the time, to have unearthed some 150 bodies, notes the Express Tribune.) Following the latest revelation, Arif was arrested, and a hunt for brother Farman Ali began; NBC News reports he was captured last night. It also points out that the two have since refused to eat jail food. (More cannibalism stories.)

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