Upset and angry: Medical fraternity enraged at murder of third doctor in a month

As the loss is mourned, law enforcers try to gather the motives behind the killing.

KARACHI/SUKKUR:

The killing of the third doctor this month has enraged the medical fraternity. The latest victim in this killing spree was 52-year-old Dr Saleem Ahmed Kharal, who was the deputy director of the department of pathology at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC).

He and his wife, Dr Yasmeen Kharal, who is a well known gynaecologist at Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK), were on their way to a wedding in Karachi on Friday night when the incident took place. “At around 9:30pm, the couple stopped at the Punjab Chowrangi traffic signal. As they waited for it to turn green, armed men walked up to their car,” said the president of the Sindh chapter of the Pakistan Medical Association, Dr Samrina Hashmi. “When Saleem tried to stop one of them from reaching into the car, he was shot five times at point blank range. His lifeless body just collapsed into his wife’s lap,” she said. “The men didn’t ask for anything, neither money, nor jewellery - they just shot him!”

Dr Kharal belonged to a respectable family from Khairpur. His elder brother, Naseem Kharal, who was a prominent writer and scholar, was shot dead about 15 years ago over a personal enmity. His other brother, Naeem Kharal, is an MPA in the Sindh Assembly. Dr Kharal is survived by a widow and two sons.

Catching the culprits

Law enforcers said that an FIR had not been registered as the family was busy with the burial rites. They said that they are investigating the murder from all angles. They added that it may be an act of target killing. Links to the previous cases of doctors’ killings in the city is also being explored. Two doctors, namely Dr Shafqat Ali Tariq, who was a private practitioner in Model Colony, and Dr Mehboob Siddiqui, who worked at the Shamsi Hospital in Malir, were murdered earlier this month.

“I do not think that Dr Saleem would place his life in danger in an attempt to stop his car from being stolen,” the District South SSP, Naeem Sheikh, told The Express Tribune. “We are looking at this case from all possible angles and until it is solved, we cannot pinpoint the motive behind the act.”

The couple’s driver, Enayatullah, was sitting in the back seat of the car when the incident took place. The law enforcers said that it is unclear as to why the man was sitting in the backseat and are questioning him. Enayatullah has been working for the couple since 2010. DSP Nayyarul Haq said that police was also trying to make sketches of the suspects as no close circuit cameras were installed at the route where this tragic incident took place. “There were two other people present during the crime and we will have to use their descriptions to make the sketches,” he said.

SHO Clifton, Ghaffar Korai, was suspended by superiors over the incident and sub-inspector Akbar has temporarily taken over his duties.

Burial rites

Dr Kharal’s body was brought to Khairpur on Saturday morning and was laid to rest in the Dadu Shah Graveyard in Khairpur that afternoon. His namaz-e-janaza was offered at the Mumtaz Ground. It was attended by a several salient personalities, including the chief minister, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, the home minister, Manzoor Wassan and the law minister, Ayaz Soomro.

Reaction of the medical community

To mark their sorrow at the loss and the deteriorating law and order situation, the outpatient department and operation theatres at JPMC and CHK were closed on Saturday. “No one asked the staff to shut down these services. It was an automatic response because they were all so disturbed and upset,” said a member of the administration at JMPC. “The killing of a senior faculty member is a grave loss indeed.”

The additional medical superintendent at the CHK, Dr Shakeel Aamir Mullick said, “People need to be more educated. Just a few days ago, we had a manhandling incident. The person brought in was pronounced dead on arrival and the anger at the loss was directed towards the healthcare professionals. Doctors are there to treat people, but they can’t raise the dead.”

The chief minister strongly condemned the murder and said that a committee has been formed to arrest the culprits.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1^st, 2012.