Secrecy surrounds death of girls in Lyari

There have been conflicting reports of up to five cases of sexual assault victims brought to the Lyari hospital

KARACHI:

A report sent by the medico-legal officer of the Sindh Government Lyari General Hospital surfaced on Monday, which stated that three girls - aged two, three and ten - were brought to the hospital bearing signs of sexual assault, with two of them dying during treatment.

There have been conflicting reports of up to five cases of sexual assault victims having been brought to the Lyari hospital over the past three weeks.

The report, signed by Medical Superintendent Abdul Hafeez Abro and dated January 23, states that two of the three victims died while the third one was taken back home by their parents.

"During the treatment and physical investigation it was observed that they were brutally raped and physically/sexually assaulted," it stated

The report stated that the police was summoned to the hospital but the families refused to agree to a post-mortem or lodge a complaint despite being asked to do so and took the bodies' for last rites.

An enquiry report, submitted to the senior superintendent of police for City District sent by the sub-divisional police officer of Kalakot on February 1, cites the statements of three girls' fathers. It states that all three fathers denied that their daughters were subjected to sexual abuse.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7^th, 2023.