FAISALABAD: Doctors of the District Headquarters Hospital and Punjab Medical College have been awaiting the relevant documents from the police for about one month to complete the postmortem report of a transgender’s body.

Two postmortems were conducted on the body of transgender Khurram Shahzad, alias Nagina, of Taj Colony, on May 4. The process would have completed by May 6 or 7 once the chemical examination report of the body parts had been received from the Forensic Lab in Lahore.

Doctors alleged it could not be completed for the police had not handed them over the documents such as injury report, FIR and inquest report.

Forensic Medicine and Toxicology Department demonstrator Dr Ahsan Ahmed through a letter informed district medico-legal officer Dr Arshad Masood that police first submitted the documents on May 4 last at 10:20am but an inspector had taken them back at 10pm for some changes.

Doctors said police had allegedly been pressurising them to conceal the first postmortem.

City Police Officer Afzaal Kausar said he would look into the issue.

Sources said first the police officers stated Nagina had been gunned down in the jurisdiction of Sargodha Road police by some unidentified people on May 4. Later, it emerged some police officials had shot Nagina dead and now police officials wanted to conceal the facts.

Dr Khurram Sohail Raja, head of forensic medicine, told Dawn the first postmortem was conducted by a doctor with a history of blind murder. On the same day, the medical board conducted an autopsy with a history of police encounter.

He said neither a doctor nor the board members could complete the postmortem report without the original documents.

Dr Raja said police would often take back documents for improvement and return them in no time, but in this case, they were not returning the documents.

Sources said Nagina was traveling on a motorcycle with two friends late on May 3 when Sargodha Road police signalled them to stop. As they ignored the police, the officials opened fire at them. Nagina died and her frightened friends abandoned the body in an area of Batala Colony police.

Dr Ahmed said Madina Town inspector Muhammad Abid and constable Abdul Waheed brought the body to the mortuary at 8am on May 4 citing the murder by firearms.

A bullet hit the jaw of Nagina near right ear which fractured her lower jaw and seven teeth as well.

Samples, including stomach with contents, intestine, liver, spleen, kidney and blood were taken for the chemical examination, Dr Ahmed wrote in the letter.

DHQ Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Abdul Rauf, also chairman of the medical board, told Dawn the board performed postmortem of Nagina on the request of investigating officer of Batala Colony police station.

The first postmortem was conducted by a doctor of the Forensic Department of the Punjab Medical College who took body samples on request of Sargodha Road police.

When asked why the police were not returning the documents, he said these documents were not given to police by any board member. The documents will be collected from the police by the person who gave them to police.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2016