Acid attack victim dies, family protests against autopsy delay in Multan

Woman refused illicit relationship with attacker

MULTAN: The family of an acid attack victim staged a protest against doctors of Civil Hospital, Shujaabad, accusing them of delaying a post-mortem for at least 18 hours that caused the deceased's body to decay.

M*, 32, a resident of Mouza Khanpur Qazia in Sikandarabad succumbed to injuries on Sunday night at Nishtar Hospital in Multan, a day after her cousin Kashif, 28, attacked her with acid for refusing to get involved in an illicit relationship with him, police told The Express Tribune.



According to SHO city police station, Kashif had been threatening M*, who married J* three years ago, of grave consequences if she did not comply with his demands. On Saturday night, he entered her house when she was alone and threw acid on her, burning her face, body.

M* was first taken to the Civil Hospital in Shujaabad but was later moved to Nishtar Hospital in Multan. Doctors said 70 per cent of her body was wounded in the attack.

After her death, her husband J* moved her body to Civil Hospital in Shujaabad for post mortem, however, his request was denied due to absence of doctors.

In protest, the family of the deceased placed the body outside the hospital. They called to expedite the process so the body could be buried without further decomposition. Speaking to The Express Tribune, J* said the “body has started to decompose due to the delay in post-mortem.”

“We have been protesting for the post-mortem to take place early since the last 18 hours,” he said. “The post-mortem is necessary for legal action against the culprit but there is no doctor at the hospital.”



The demonstration led to a three-hour long traffic jam, persuading SHO City Police Station to rush to the scene to negotiate with the protestors. After promising legal action against the suspect, the SHO managed to disperse the crowd.

An FIR has been registered against Kashif under section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) at the city police station, SHO told The Express Tribune. He added that the suspect had been arrested and further investigations were underway.