‘Tortured’ cadet to be sent abroad for treatment

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah approved a summary on Tuesday under which a ‘tortured’ cadet will be provided medical treatment in the United States at state expense.

Cadet Muhammad Ahmed Husain is fighting for his life after allegedly undergoing severe torture by the teaching staff of the Cadet College, Larkana.

“The chief minister has asked the parents of the child to prepare their passports and be ready for his treatment in the US,” said the CM House spokesperson. “The Sindh government will bear all expenses for Husain’s treatment.”

The announcement came after a 10-member medical board revealed in its report that child had undergone trauma, suggesting it could be the outcome of torture. According to a source, the child has laryngeal stenosis – a congenital or acquired narrowing of the airway that may affect the supraglottis, glottis or subglottis.

Mohammad Rashid Mashori, the child’s father, said the health secretary asked him on Monday to get the birth certificate of Husain from the National Database Registration Authority and then to proceed for the passports.

“Today, we have received the birth certificate and are going to the passport office now,” he said, adding that government has not yet given them any date for departure to the US.

“I am still not sure about the treatment abroad, because they have not yet given me a copy of the medical board’s report or its findings,” he said, adding that some officials phoned him and said, “All process including visa will be done within two-three weeks.”

Husain, a grade eight student, fell unconscious in the college premises and he was later handed over to his parents on August 10. The family initially took him to a Larkana hospital for first aid but he was later referred to Karachi.

The parents alleged that their child was tortured by the college staff. They said they went from pillar to post for his medical treatment and repeatedly approached the college administration but in vain.

However, the concerned authorities took notice after the issue was highlighted by media last week and the Sindh chief minister ordered to form the medical board to probe the torture claim.

Earlier this month the child was referred to Doctor Michael Rutter, the pediatric otolaryngologist at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Centre in Ohio, USA by the doctors in Aga Khan University Hospital, where he is being treated.

When approached by The Express Tribune through an email, Dr Rutter said he planned on surgical repair of Husain’s larynx and not necessarily rehabilitation.

“If Husain was to come here, it would be for several weeks, and he would need funding for accommodation and nursing care (ideally with a nurse or competent family members coming with him),” he wrote.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 30^th, 2016.