Cadet ‘torture’: Officials swing into action after media spotlight on the case

Father of paralysed cadet seeks help of PM, president and army chief

LARKANA/ KARACHI: The father of a cadet who suffered severe injuries after he was allegedly tortured by his teachers three months ago has made an impassioned appeal to the president, prime minister, army chief, and the provincial chief executive to help provide his son the medical care he needs to live a normal life.

Describing the condition of his son, Muhammad Rashid told Express News that the young teenager cannot swallow any food or sip a drink. He tries to write something down on a piece of paper but all he can do is scrawl meaningless lines.



Muhammad Ahmed Hussain, a 13-and-a-half years old student of Cadet College Larkana, was left paralysed in the wake of the Aug 10 incident.

At the same time, he made it clear that he was not interested if those who had tortured him were punished or not. “You may let them go or punish those who showed so much cruelty towards my son. You may save the other children from being bitten by these snakes I am not interested, but please help my child recover by medical treatment.”

Nevertheless he urged the state’s top functionaries to find out who is responsible for the incident. “If you want to save the future of other children, ask Major, question Colonel Iftikhar, GM Bhatti, Dr Liaquat and the college administration about the incident.”

Sobbing incessantly, Muhammad Rashid Mashori told Express News said he expected his son to be treated just like Malala Yousufzai had been treated when she was shot in the head by the Taliban.

Idrees Mashori, Hussain’s uncle, told a news conference at the press club in Larkana that the administration of the Cadet College Larkana had handed over an unconscious Hussain to the family on August 10 saying that he was suffering from fever.

His medical reports prepared during his treatment at a hospital in Karachi showed that he had been subjected to torture. He has gone into coma because of the torture and two of his ribs and four of the neck bones are fractured. His kidneys have also suffered because of a long and continuous coma.

He held Hussain’s class teachers Ghulam Mustafa Bhatti and Muhammad Abdullah as well as the college principal responsible for the violence.



He said the Dokri police station had refused to register a case against the accused while DIG also refused to meet the complainant’s family. “The DIG expressed his inability to help and used his principal staff officer to whisk us out of the office,” Idrees recalled. He said that when they approached SSP Larkana Kamran Nawaz, he advised them to contact GOC Pannu Aqil.

Special medical board formed

The Sindh health department has constituted a 10-member special medical board to examine Hussain. General Officer Commanding (GOC) Pannu Aqil Major-General Faiz Hamid also initiated action and ordered an inquiry committee to investigate the incident.

According to the orders issued by the Sindh health department, the boy had sustained serious injuries.

The board will launch its inquiry at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) in Karachi on Monday morning at the Medical ICU.

Earlier, the chief minister announced that the Sindh government would bear the cost of treatment and if necessary, the teen cadet would be sent to the United States.

After examining the boy, the board will submit its recommendations and determine possible causes of his injuries on the same day.

An expert in neurosurgery from the Dow Medical College / Civil Hospital Karachi Prof Junaid Ashraf has been appointed as the board’s chairman.

‘Not a case of epilepsy’

Muhammad Rashid Mashori fended off suggestions that his son was  an ‘abnormal child’, refuting claims by college officials that Hussain was an epileptic patient. “How could he have gained admission in the college if that were so?” he asked.

Mashori said: “My son got the ‘shining cadet’ award from the same college where people are now questioning his health or even terming him an abnormal child.”

Although the child has been under treatment at local private hospitals, experts contacted by The Express Tribune said that he should be referred to a reputable paediatric hospital such as the Cincinnati Children Hospital in the US state of Ohio under the care of otolaryngologist Dr Michael Rutter.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20^th, 2016.