January 15, 2008	Tuesday	Muharram 05, 1429

HYDERABAD, Jan 14: The committee tasked with looking into clinical causes leading to the death of 14-year-old student of class nine Mudassar, a victim of corporal punishment inflicted by a teacher, has yet to begin proceedings despite the fact that the teenager’s father has expressed reservations over the way his son was treated in the hospital's paediatrics ward.

The three-member committee comprising additional medical superintendents (AMSs) of medico-legal, general and vigilance was formed by the medical superintendent of the Civil Hospital Dr. Mohammad Waseem Shaikh on Saturday.

AMS medico-legal Dr. Saleem Raza said the committee was waiting for nomination of two more members by the vice-chancellor of the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS). “We will begin our proceedings after the names of professors or associate professors are forwarded to us,” he said.

Mudassar’s father, Aslam, said that when his family took his son to the hospital on Jan 2, he was admitted to the paediatrics ward. “But the in-charge of the ward Dr. Wajid was reluctant to admit Mudassar on grounds that it was a case of surgical ward,” he said.

He said that the doctors wasted around two to three precious days in taking a decision on starting his treatment. They were in fact not ready to treat the boy in their ward, he said.

“The doctor of the ward even told us that the doctors of surgical ward had spoiled the boy's case. We spoke to Dr Bilal Rasool who had operated upon my son. He then came to paediatrics ward and gave in writing that the operation had been successfully performed,” he said.

Only then, he said, they started his son’s treatment. They would ask him to bring this or that medicine and he kept arranging it through his own efforts, he said.

On the other hand the deputy district officer (DDO) of city Mohammad Saleem Rajput paid a surprise visit to the Government Himayatul Islam Boys High School to record eye-witness accounts but to his utter surprise he found only 11 out of 60 students in class IX B.

He recorded statements of students who were present on that day when the incident of corporal punishment took place. All the students are reported to have testified in favour of the teacher Buland Iqbal.

According to EDO of revenue Barkat Rizvi, who is on the committee formed by district nazim, the interim report of the inquiry would be submitted to the nazim by midnight given the fact that he had tasked the committee to complete the probe within three days.

“There will be no lacuna in the report and every aspect will be covered. We will also look into the aspect of the wrestler who had reportedly treated the boy,” Rizvi said.