September 30, 2003	Tuesday	Sha’aban 3, 1424

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RAWALPINDI, Sept 29: The family of 13-year-old Zara, who died due to alleged negligence of the Cantonment General Hospital (CGH) staff, have shown indignation at the hospital’s report, saying that actual facts have been concealed.

After the findings of the inquiry committee, only one anaesthetist has been suspended. However, no action has been taken against any doctor or head of the department where the class 9 student died, the family said.

The report is only a formality and the actual facts have been swept under the carpet, they added.

Zara died on August 19 after she was operated upon for appendicitis. The cantonment authorities formed a committee to find the actual cause of the death.

However, the relatives of the deceased have rejected the inquiry report, saying that it is not based on facts.

“We are not satisfied with the findings of the inquiry committee and the so-called action taken against only one person, who will be reinstated after a month or so,” said Zara’s brother, Ramzan.

The CGH medical superintendent (MS), Dr Baig Ali Naz, when contacted, said the report was fair.

“We are not supposed to do police work.

We can only indicate the mistake and fix the responsibility,” he added.

The MS said the actual cause of Zara’s death could be ascertained only through postmortem which, he added, was not allowed by her relatives.

When asked whether or not it was the responsibility of the CGH to conduct the autopsy, the MS said the girl did not die in the cantonment hospital. She died in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), he added.

This, however, is refuted by the relatives, who say Zara was already dead when taken to Pims.