Alive but injured: Doctor accused of harassment shot

Shoaib claims he was cleaning his gun, but insiders say he attempted suicide

MANSEHRA: A senior medical officer accused of sexually harassing women patients in his clinic was found shot and injured under mysterious circumstances.

Some of his close aides said it seemed as if the doctor’s 12-bore shotgun wound was self-inflicted, indicating he tried to commit suicide. However, some say he may have been shot by another person.  According to the police, the incident was an accident and the gun went off as he was cleaning it.

Family sources said Dr Shoaib, a senior medical officer of the King Abdullah Teaching Hospital in Mansehra, had been severely depressed for the last month after he was suspended for sexually harassing his female patients while on duty. They added he was in the bedroom when they heard a gunshot. The relatives rushed in and found Shoaib lying in a pool of blood.

He suffered a single 12 bore shotgun blast to the chest. He was shifted to King Abdullah Teaching Hospital from where doctors referred him to Ayub Medical Complex in Abbottabad. Officials said he was operated upon at AMC and his condition was stable.

City police quoted the injured doctor as saying he was cleaning his loaded 12 bore shotgun, which accidentally went off.

Videos of harassment

Sohail, a correspondent of a local Urdu newspaper in Mansehra, produced over 25 video clips somebody else had secretly recorded of Dr Shoaib. The clips showed the doctor would sexually harass women during detailed medical examinations in a side room attached to his office in the out-patient department. Some of the victims, including teenage girls, could clearly be seen resisting the doctor's advances and some were seen weeping once outside.

The complainant told the doctor violated morals and PMDC rules and should be punished accordingly.  On Sohail’s complaint, the City police registered a criminal case against Dr Shoaib under sections 376, 511, 354, 355, 392 and 393 of the Pakistan Penal Code on October 17. However, the accused obtained bail before arrest.

The medical officer, in his 50s, later tried to clarify his position. He claimed the footage had been engineered and demanded an interrogation of the complainant.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28^th,  2015.