LAHORE: A judicial magistrate on Monday granted bail to five suspects in the case pertaining to the death of a mother and her infant daughter from falling into an open manhole near Bhati Gate last month as the complainant chose not to seek any legal action.

The two — 24-year-old Sadia and her 10-month old daughter Rida — had fallen into the sewer at the site of the under-construction Data Darbar expansion project near Bhati Gate on January 28. While the woman’s body was found late at night, the same day, the child’s body was recovered the next day. Subsequently, three officials of the contractor working on the project were arrested along with two others.

Magistrate Shafqat Abbas conducted Monday’s proceedings after police presented the suspects before the court on the expiry of their physical remand.

The suspects included Project Manager Asghar Sandhu, Contractor Company’s CEO Salman Yasin, Site Incharge Hunzala, Ahmed Nawaz, and Daniyal.

Sajid Hussain, the father of the deceased woman, and her husband, Murtaza, the complainant, also appeared before the court.

Both informed the court that they did not wish to pursue further legal action against the suspects and had no objection to their acquittal or discharge from the case.

In light of the complainant’s statement, the magistrate approved the post-arrest bail applications of the suspects and directed them to furnish surety bonds of Rs50,000 each.

It is worth mentioning that at the previous hearing, the defence counsel told the court that the company’s owner voluntarily surrendered to the police and presented a cheque of Rs10 million for the aggrieved family.