Doctor attempts suicide over bribe demand

KARACHI:

The Sindh Health Department said on Friday that it was investigating allegations by a senior doctor who attempted suicide after being demanded money to be reinstated in his job.

In a five-page suicide note in Sindh, Dr Abdul Sodhar alleged that a section officer of the health department, Agha Altaf Hussain and Saddaruddin Shah, the personal secretary to the health secretary, had demanded Rs500,000 in order to get ‘posted’ in Karachi.

Dr Sodhar wrote that when he returned from his leave, he was harassed by the officials. “I cannot pay Rs.500,000 for the posting because I have to pay rent, utility bills and school fees of my kids,” he wrote in the suicide letter which is available with The Express Tribune.

He said he had previously been posted in Karachi at the Labour Square Hospital in Malir. During that time as well, a district health official demanded money from him, including for the medicine that was meant for the hospital.

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The doctor was rushed to the intensive care unit on Tuesday after consuming a large number of ‘sleeping pills’.

On Friday, the health department’s spokesperson said that Dr Sodhar was stable and would be discharged within the next two days.

Meanwhile, the letter was shared widely on social media, resulting in the health department ordering an inquiry and suspending one of the three people named in the suicide note.