YDA threatens to widen protests if FIR not withdrawn

Even after the lapse of 22 days, no arrest is made in Sunil Masih lynching case

LAHORE: The Young Doctors Association has threatened to spread their protest across Punjab if the government did not withdraw FIR against doctors in a lynching case.

In the wake of several unpleasant incidents between the staff and patients’ relatives in public sector hospitals, the YDA demanded fool-proof security arrangements for workers during a press conference at Lahore General Hospital on Wednesday.

During the press conference, YDA President Dr Maroof Vaince also announced plans to stage rallies across Punjab on May 3 to register protest against the government.

“We will not shut down operations at hospitals. We will only stage a peaceful protest by taking out rallies in public sector hospitals across Punjab,” he clarified.

On Tuesday, YDA staged a protest outside Services Hospital and marched from Jail Road to the Shadman Town police station. They demanded that doctors’ names be removed from the FIR that was registered after the lynching of Sunil Saleem Masih. No doctor was involved in the incident, they claimed.



A former office-bearer of YDA revealed that the organisation was pressurising the government to remove the names of the doctors, despite the fact that the CCTV footage clearly showed them taking part in the lynching.

Their protest and rallies are a manoeuvre meant to pressurise the government into accepting their demands, he stated.

Hardly anyone remembers that in the provincial capital, on the night between March 27 and 28, a man was lynched to death in front of a large number of people and police yet to arrest the culprits behind the incident.

Sunil Saleem Masih was killed at Gyne emergency room and his post-mortem report stated that several ribs were broken and torture marks appeared on his body.

“As many 22 days have gone, neither police arrested the culprits nor the health department issue the inquiry committee report,” said victim’s brother Aneel Masih.

“I have been already testified and pointed out the culprits involved in murdering my brother, but they still at large,” he said.

He further said that even now law enforcement agencies personnel were not answering his phone call, while the culprits were freely roaming in the hospital.

Earlier, investigation in-charge of the case, Inspector Husnain Haider termed the incident as a ‘murder’ committed by those who belong to a noble profession. “He was badly beaten and the culprits later put the body in an empty room to conceal the facts,” he said.

The official stated that the CCTV footage has been confiscated, but the suspects could not be taken into custody as they obtained pre-arrest bail from the court. According to the sources, the Services Hospital has tried its best to hide the document and no official was available for comment till the filing of this report.

While according to the FIR, registered by Aneel Masih, the deceased’s brother, several doctors, security guards and staffers brutally assaulted the victim. The report revealed that the incident erupted when doctors allegedly started ‘torturing’ the patient’s family on the night between Monday and Tuesday.

Sunil, an employee of the Motorway Police and brother of patient Kiran, was killed in the incident. It added that the scuffle occurred among the Services Hospital administration and attendants of patient Kiran Kashif, who brought to the medical facility with birth pangs.

Dr Ameeruddin, the Medical Superintendent of Services Hospital, agreed that the inquiry committee has already completed the report and submitted to the department, however, according to him, he was not aware what was in the report.

“It is the department’s responsibility to make the report public,” he added.

When contacted, the spokesman for the health department said the report has already been finalised and would be made public in few days, while investigation in-charge of the case said police investigation was still underway.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 19^th, 2018.