Only three Karachi hospitals meet medico-legal requirements

Karachi police request reassignment of female MLOs to police surgeon to facilitate victims

KARACHI: Pakistan's largest city has only three hospitals that are equipped to handle medico-legal formalities in situations where the victim or perpetrator of a crime requires medical treatment.

Medico-legal formalities can play a key role in criminal cases, as they help with the verification of injuries and other physical or mental trauma caused as a result of the crime. In case of death, the medico-legal officials also identify the cause of death, on the basis of which cases are filed at police stations and evidence is presented in courts. The Sindh government, however, seems to have deprioritised the safety and security of the provincial capital.



According to health department records, medico-legal facilities are available in nine Karachi hospitals, where roughly 70 posts for of medico-legal officers have been approved by the government. Only 29 medical-legal officers, however, are currently working at these hospitals, while 41 vacancies remain unfilled. More importantly, of the nine medico-legal facilities, only three hospitals have fully functional departments including morgues - Jinnah Hospital, Civil Hospital and Abbasi Shaheed Hospital - while the other six are lacking in various ways.

Sindh Government Hospital New Karachi, Sindh Government Hospital Liaquatabad, Sindh Government Hospital Saudabad, Lyari General Hospital, Sindh Government Qatar Hospital Orangi Town, and Sindh Government Hospital Korangi are the six facilities where medico-legal facilities are not fully operational despite the government mandate. Only three of them even have morgues.

Karachi Police Surgeon Dr Qarar Abbasi told The Express Tribune that various crimes in the city are increasing day by day, and the verification of injuries or assault in such cases is done by medico-legal officers. "But we always encounter complaints about the lack of MLOs," he said.

Dr Abbasi added that there are only four female MLOs, for the verification of women's cases, which adds to the difficulty.



Often, lady MLOs have to be requested to come from home after their duty hours have ended, due to which victims also face additional stress due to the wait, Dr Abbasi explained. He said a letter will be sent to the health secretary regarding the appointment of female MLOs in which it will be explained that on March 5, 2018, Dr Abbasi himself had provided special medico-legal training to 26 lady doctors.

These MLOs have been appointed in various public hospitals where medico-legal facilities are completely dysfunctional, he said, adding that the health secretary will be requested to assign 15 of these 26 MLOs, to the Karachi police surgeon so that women injured in various incidents can be examined in a timely manner and reports can be prepared.