Karachi court orders arrest of doctor in Nashwa case

Physical remand of three accused extended while another sent to jail

KARACHI: A local court ordered on Thursday to arrest and produce Dr Attiya and five other accused before the court in Nashwa case. The court also extended the physical remand of three accused until April 28.

The East judicial magistrate heard the case in the Karachi city court. Police produced the arrested accused, Nursing Manager Atif, duty administration officer Ahmed Shehzad and Moiz before the court while nurse Sobia was produced by jail officials.

Nine-month-old Nashwa was administered the wrong dose of injection at Darul Sehat Hospital that paralysed her brain and later caused her death. The investigation officer (IO) requested an extension of the remand of three accused. The IO said that the police were trying to arrest five other accused but have not been able to locate them yet.

The petitioner’s counsel argued that Section 302 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), which deals with punishment for murder, should be included in the case. The hospital administration kept Nashwa in their custody for seven days. They intended to kill Nashwa, the counsel stated, adding that the antidote to the potassium chloride injection was to be administered but it couldn’t be done.

The counsel for the accused argued that it was not a murder case and said that the petitioner was trying to turn it into a high-profile case.

The government lawyer expressed dissatisfaction over the progress of investigation and argued that the prime suspect in the case, including Dr Attiya, hadn’t been arrested as yet and the IO had yet to submit a progress report. The lawyer added that the four accused who have been arrested up till now were from the hospital’s lower staff.

The court sought the prescription of injection which was administered to Nashwa and ordered the IO to investigate the qualification of Darul Sehat Hospital’s staff. The court remarked that it should be investigated if a children’s ICU was there at the hospital or not.

The petitioner’s counsel argued that Nashwa was kept in Darul Sehat Hospital for seven days by the administration because they were waiting for her to die there and this way the situation would not escalate. The counsel requested to include the section of murder in the case, adding that it was not a case of unintentional murder.

The court ordered the inclusion of Section 322 (murder due to negligence and carelessness) in the case.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26^th, 2019.