Authorities yet to exhume body of girl killed by her family

Superintendent says he is not authorised to conduct on-spot post-mortems.

SUKKUR:

The Sindh health director-general has yet to form a medical board to exhume the body of a girl, who was killed and buried by her family in Sukkur.

The victim, Arzana, was killed allegedly by her father, Imdad Ali Shaikh, brother Raza Muhammad Shaikh and cousin Gul Muhammad Shaikh on June 12. The culprits reportedly buried her body in the courtyard of their house in Farash Morr village.

One of the neighbours alerted the police, who raided the house and arrested Imdad, his wife Rasheeda, Gul Muhammad, and daughter-in-law Shamul, who is married to Raza. The victim’s brother, Raza, has been on the run.

Abad police filed the case on the complaint of Arzana’s sister, Sakina, who nominated five people in the FIR - Imdad, Rasheeda, Raza, Shamul and Gul Muhammad. Sakina told the police that, five years ago, her sister was married to a man, Haji Mubarak. They had a son but Haji Mubarak died three years ago.

Sakina accused her father of being greedy and forcing Arzana to marry an old man for money.

When she refused, the men in the house started beating her up and eventually killed her, the sister recalled. Sakina said they buried her in the courtyard so that no one would find out.

On June 13, the arrested accused were produced before the court of the first civil judge and judicial magistrate, Ghous Ali Shah, who sent them to jail on remand. The court also ordered the medical superintendent of Civil Hospital, Sukkur, to constitute a medical board to exhume the body and conduct an on-spot post-mortem. It has been 12 days but no action has been taken.

Abad police senior investigation officer Amjad Iqbal Mughal told The Express Tribune that two constables have been deployed outside the family’s house since June 13 and no one will be able to take away the body.

For his part, the medical superintendent, Dr Mehboob Shah, said that he was not empowered to exhume the body and conduct the post-mortem. He wrote to the medical superintendent of Chandka Medical College Hospital (CMCH), Larkana, to set up a medical board for the purpose.

Sindh health director-general Captain Dr Ghulam Sarwar Channa has assured that the board will be set up in a day or two, he added. CMCH medical superintendent Dr Zulfiqar Sial and Dr Channa were not available for comment.





Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2011.