UMERKOT: The victims of Aug 3 torture and humiliation incident at Umerkot courtroom, Dr Kiran Hemji and staff nurse Ms Tejan, along with eyewitnesses recorded statements about the episode before additional district judge on Friday but the alleged tormentors preferred to abstain from the inquiry.

The court office superintendent Akbar Ali Rahimoon, who reportedly ordered police to torture the health officials, appeared before Additional District Judge (ADJ) Naveed Hussain Kolachi and excused himself from recording statement on the pretext of ill health. Similarly, security guard of civil judge Ali Hassan Mari and police constable Tarique Ranghar did not bother to appear before the judge.

ADJ Kolachi has been appointed by district and sessions judge Syed Nasiruddin Shah to head the one-man inquiry committee to probe the Aug 3 incident.

Dr Kiran and Ms Tejan repeated before the judge the story that they had narrated before journalists on Aug 3. Dr Kiran said that she and staff nurse Tejan were busy performing their duties at the hospital when police constable Tarique Ranghar came to them and asked them to visit civil judge Ali Hassan Mari’s residence to treat a baby.

They told him that they would visit the judge’s residence only after he informed the medical superintendent. On that he went away and did not return. When they reached home after work later in the day, they were picked up by police who took them to district court where lady police constable Shabana held Tejan’s hands and dragged her into the courtroom, she said.

The moment they entered the courtroom, office superintendent Akbar Rahimoon started shouting at them, they said. “Akbar hurled abuses at us,” she said.

She said that Rahimoon also ordered police constable Shabana to slap Ms Tejan and she, at first, refused to hit her but he threatened that she would lose her job if she did not do so, therefore she slapped her twice.

Lawyers Parshotam Khatri, Sharif Bheel and Ayaz Jokhio stated the entire episode of torture and humiliation took place in their presence. Both the victims were compelled to sign an affidavit of apology which they did, they said.

Medical Superintendent Dr Jam Kunbhar was also present at the time of the incident.

Dr Moiz Ali Shah said that he was called by district and sessions judge who was complaining to him about the behaviour of the health staff. When he was leaving the court, he heard screaming in the courtroom, he said.

Court staff including Sikandar Khoso, Haq Nawaz, Umer Maher, Saroop and Hassan Abbas said that they heard that Akbar Rahimoon was shouting in the courtroom at Dr Kiran and Tejan.

Jhaman Bajeer, a data coder, filed a written reply to the ADJ and said that he along with another technical person had checked that data of closed-circuit TV cameras on the day of the incident had been destroyed. Cameras’ data box was in the corridor where anyone could destroy it, he said.

Judge claims ignorance of incident

District and Sessions Judge Syed Nasiruddin Shah claimed ignorance of the incident and said that on Aug 3, at around 1pm civil judge Ali Hassan Mari requested him that he was taking his daughter to Hyderabad for treatment because the hospital staff had refused to treat her.

He, therefore, called DHO and MS Dr Jam Kunbhar to his office and asked them what was the reason for their refusal. Later, he went home and was informed by SSP Usman Bajwa about the incident.

He called Akbar Rahimoon who said that he had just spoken loudly to the health officials. Later, he also asked other court staff who also denied the incident took place, he said.

The judge said that in the case of Irfan Masih who was reportedly denied treatment by the hospital staff the civil judge had taken notice of the incident and had MS Dr Jam arrested under Section 322 of the PPC, which had greatly annoyed doctors. Therefore, the doctors were not ready to treat family members of the judge.

Call for judicial probe

Ms Tejan told Dawn that she had filed a constitutional petition in the Hyderabad circuit bench of the Sindh High Court in the same matter in which she had asked the court to declare that act of respondents including both judges, court staff and police personnel was illegal and unlawful.

She demanded judicial inquiry against both judges and said the court should direct the SSP to register an FIR against respondents Akbar Rahimoon, PC Shabana Shaikh and PC Tarique Ranghar for kidnapping, keeping them in wrongful confinement and subjecting them to torture. A judicial committee should probe the matter regarding involvement of both the judges, she said.

‘Tormentors’ seek out-of-court settlement

Dr Hemji, husband of Dr Kiran, and Diyaram Meghwar, brother of staff nurse Tejan, said that entire staff of district court, including Akbar Rahimoon accompanied by some political leaders, had been visiting district bar office-bearers and houses of Dr Kiran and Tejan to beg apology for the incident, but they had refused to pardon them.

The ADJ submitted the report to the district and sessions judge after recording statements of all but the main accused, Akbar Rahimoon and Tarique Ranghar.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2017