Medical board rules out stoning as cause of minor girl’s death

Will share an initial postmortem report after three days

KARACHI: A medico-legal team, which in the presence of the judicial magistrate exhumed the body of a minor girl, Gul Sama, on Wednesday, has ruled out stoning as the cause of her death. The doctors' initial statements clearly point to the Sindh Police's negligence in the case, who had stated in the First Information Report that the minor was stoned to death by at least six persons.

Acting on the court's directives, a four-member medical board, led by Police Surgeon Dr Bansidhar, and accompanied by Civil Judge Johi Agha Imran Pathan, police officials and local journalists reached the graveyard of Lali Lak located in the remote area of Wahi Pandhi in district Dadu on the border area of Sindh-Balochistan. The medical board obtained samples from the body for medical examination, which according to the doctors, will be sent to Karachi and Hyderabad for forensic tests. The autopsy report will be shared after the laboratory results.

Speaking to the media after the exhumation, Dr Abdul Waheed Nahyon said that the medical team found a head injury. "There was no any external sign of stoning on her body," he confirmed. "She has internal fractures," he added.

"I don't think it should be called stoning to death," said Dr Nahyon. "The body was about 10-days old," he added.

He said that the age of the girl was not more than 12 years and that the medical team has also collected samples for DNA testing.

Explaining the process of the medical reports, he said that the DNA report will take around 15 days. "But the initial post-mortem report will take at least three days."

Police's suspected role

As news of the 'stoning to death' surfaced on social media, police had registered an FIR against six persons, besides the parents of the deceased girl and the local cleric who performed the funeral.

The FIR, registered on behalf of the state, clearly states that the girl was brutally 'stoned to death'.

"No one buries a Kari with formal rituals," commented the editor of Sindhi fortnightly magazine, Dr Ali Rind, who hails from the area. "There was no such jirga that decided her death," he added. Dr Rind said that the police, without investigating the matter, registered a false case under pressure from some journalists. "Police should have used common sense that a Kari is never buried in a graveyard with formal rituals," he explained, demanding a high level investigation in the case. "Everyone asks us if we still live in the stone ages. It's matter of shame for all of us."

"It's a sensitive case and I can't say what actually happened with the girl," said Sindh Health Services  Director-General Dr Masood Solangi. "It's the first time that a medical board was immediately established," he said, adding that all details will be shared once the board conducts its meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 5^th, 2019.