KARACHI, April 4: A detailed research study on the medico-legal sector in Karachi says even the examination rooms of the three major medico-legal centres in the city do not have basic amenities such as proper lighting and an examination table required to conduct even a brief examination.
The report authored by Mariam Ahmad and Tanya Ghani of Aahung, a non-governmental organisation, was launched at a local hotel on Wednesday. Another NGO, War Against Rape, also collaborated in its compilation.
The study says the absence of basic amenities (lighting source, cotton swabs, disposable gloves) hampers the collection and viability of forensic evidence and can also expose examinees and medico-legal officers to various health risks. “The Police Surgeon also referred to the lack of funding in this sector, repeatedly saying that his office did not even have sufficient funds to purchase stationery,” it says.
In Karachi, the report says, female rape victims can only be examined by women MLOs at the three major medico-legal centres. “This becomes problematic because of the shortage of women MLOs in government service and their limited hours of availability.”
There are only eight women MLOs servicing a population of approximately seven million women. “This shortage is compounded by the fact that women MLOs also have to conduct all female post-mortems resulting in significant delays for sexual assault exams.”
The report suggests enforcement of the existing policy of 24-hour service at the medico-legal centres. It points out that the Police Surgeon and the Additional Police Surgeon do not work on Sundays and women MLOs largely remain on-call on Sundays. The non-availability of key staff on Sundays is also an important issue which must be resolved.
The report concludes that without all basic facilities MLOs are unable to properly serve.
Most MLOs were unaware of the need to provide counseling or referral services to survivors of sexual violence. Almost half the MLOs interviewed acknowledged examining clients without first obtaining consent. No one referenced using a consent form to record a survivor’s consent, indicating that even when consent was obtained it was mostly based on an MLO’s personal medical etiquette, it said.
