Crying foul: Activists raise doubts over Haresh’s medical report
Child rights organisations accuse medico-legal officer of trying to protect employer.
Child rights organisations accuse medico-legal officer of trying to protect employer. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
A panel of representatives, affiliated with various child rights organisations, denounced the medico-legal report that was filed in Haresh Kumar’s case, alleging that the doctors may have not included everything in order to safeguard the boy’s employer, a fellow doctor.
The panelists were addressing a joint press conference at the Madadgaar National Helpline office on Thursday. Bushra Saeed spoke on behalf of Madadgaar with regards to Haresh Kumar, the ten-year-old domestic servant who was allegedly thrown out through a window from his employer’s sixth floor apartment in Clifton. Saeed stressed that a medical examination should be conducted again as the original report was missing several details about the boy’s injuries, such as the fracture on his head and the bruises and scratches on the rest of his body.
“If, as the doctors are saying, the injuries were minimal, why was he kept overnight in the ICU?” she questioned. “The doctors would have released him immediately if he was fine.”
The panelists alleged that the medico-legal officer, who filed the report, purposely withheld the information in order to protect the accused, who is also from the medical community.
Zia Ahmed Awan, founder of Madadgaar National Helpline, lamented the fact that it took 15 hours for the police to register an FIR. He was of the view that the government agencies responsible for domestic workers should take a more active role for their protection.
He further spoke on the failings of the government with regards to documenting statistics of domestic servants by saying that they should “keep records of them and their pay scales.” He went on to add that if such records were to be kept by the Sindh government, regulations could also be imposed to protect their rights. “The system in Sindh is lacking,” explained Zia Awan, encompassing evidence collection, forensics and medico legal reports in his list of failings of the Sindh government.
A representative from the Society for the Protection of the Rights of Child (SPARC), Abdullah Langah, added, “Many domestic servants come from rural Sindh and like Haresh’s remuneration of Rs2,000 per month, receive very little for their work.”
Child Rights Movement’s Ghulam Madni Memon said, “After the 18th Amendment, it is the responsibility of the Sindh government to safeguard the rights of children, but they have failed to do so miserably”. He further spoke of the lack of child trafficking statistics in Sindh and stressed for the implementation of the Sindh Children Act.
“The police need surgery and this can not be implemented by the judiciary alone. It also needs political will,” exclaimed Zia Awan.
“Where the government is positive, we stand with them, but where the government is lacking, we stand against them,” spoke Rana Asif Habib from Initiator Human Development Foundation.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 17th, 2014.
A panel of representatives, affiliated with various child rights organisations, denounced the medico-legal report that was filed in Haresh Kumar’s case, alleging that the doctors may have not included everything in order to safeguard the boy’s employer, a fellow doctor.
The panelists were addressing a joint press conference at the Madadgaar National Helpline office on Thursday. Bushra Saeed spoke on behalf of Madadgaar with regards to Haresh Kumar, the ten-year-old domestic servant who was allegedly thrown out through a window from his employer’s sixth floor apartment in Clifton. Saeed stressed that a medical examination should be conducted again as the original report was missing several details about the boy’s injuries, such as the fracture on his head and the bruises and scratches on the rest of his body.
“If, as the doctors are saying, the injuries were minimal, why was he kept overnight in the ICU?” she questioned. “The doctors would have released him immediately if he was fine.”
The panelists alleged that the medico-legal officer, who filed the report, purposely withheld the information in order to protect the accused, who is also from the medical community.
Zia Ahmed Awan, founder of Madadgaar National Helpline, lamented the fact that it took 15 hours for the police to register an FIR. He was of the view that the government agencies responsible for domestic workers should take a more active role for their protection.
He further spoke on the failings of the government with regards to documenting statistics of domestic servants by saying that they should “keep records of them and their pay scales.” He went on to add that if such records were to be kept by the Sindh government, regulations could also be imposed to protect their rights. “The system in Sindh is lacking,” explained Zia Awan, encompassing evidence collection, forensics and medico legal reports in his list of failings of the Sindh government.
A representative from the Society for the Protection of the Rights of Child (SPARC), Abdullah Langah, added, “Many domestic servants come from rural Sindh and like Haresh’s remuneration of Rs2,000 per month, receive very little for their work.”
Child Rights Movement’s Ghulam Madni Memon said, “After the 18th Amendment, it is the responsibility of the Sindh government to safeguard the rights of children, but they have failed to do so miserably”. He further spoke of the lack of child trafficking statistics in Sindh and stressed for the implementation of the Sindh Children Act.
“The police need surgery and this can not be implemented by the judiciary alone. It also needs political will,” exclaimed Zia Awan.
“Where the government is positive, we stand with them, but where the government is lacking, we stand against them,” spoke Rana Asif Habib from Initiator Human Development Foundation.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 17th, 2014.