NAPA: Lecturer blames DG for miscarriage

Petitioner says she was pushed out of DG’s office, causing fall and miscarriage.

LAHORE:

An additional district and sessions judge has sought comments from the Shadman SHO on a petition filed by a woman seeking a case against the director general of the National Academy for Prisons Administration (NAPA) and three other officials for allegedly pushing her out of an office, causing a miscarriage.

Petitioner Sarwat Enayat Mirza submitted that she had been working as a lecturer at the NAPA for 13 years and had applied for a promotion. She alleged that Director General Waqar Ali Khan tampered with her service record, as a result of which she was denied the promotion. She said that on August 3, she went to the DG’s office to apply for leave as she was pregnant and in poor health, at least partly because of the stress of being denied a promotion. She alleged that the director general misbehaved with her and ordered officials named Arshad Athar, Javed and others to expel her from the office.

The officials allegedly began pushing her out, as a result of which she fell and began bleeding from her vagina. She was taken to a hospital, where doctors told her she had miscarried and she had to undergo a DNC (dilation and curettage) procedure.

The petitioner said she approached the police to lodge a case, but the SHO refused. She asked the court to direct the police to register a case against the NAPA DG and other officials.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2013.