Medical examination of Lahore woman Asma Aziz reveals various injuries

Published March 29, 2019
In the aftermath of Asma Aziz's ordeal, Amnesty International South Asia called for systemic change in Pakistan to protect women from violence. ─ Photo courtesy Amnesty International South Asia Twitter
In the aftermath of Asma Aziz's ordeal, Amnesty International South Asia called for systemic change in Pakistan to protect women from violence. ─ Photo courtesy Amnesty International South Asia Twitter

A medical examination of Lahore woman Asma Aziz ─ whose husband and his employees allegedly stripped her naked, beat her, and shaved her head over not dancing for them — revealed on Friday that she had various injuries on her body.

The examination report stated that Aziz, 15-18 hours after she reportedly sustained her injuries, had multiple bruises on her left forearm, a cut on her finger, bruises and swelling on both cheeks near her ears, redness and watering in her left eye, and had experienced some dizziness and vomiting. The report at the bottom added that there is no possibility of fabrication of her injuries.

The report, acquired by DawnNewsTV from police sources, recommends x-rays of her head and hand, and getting the opinions of ENT, ortho, eye, and neuro specialists.

In the aftermath of Aziz's ordeal, Amnesty International South Asia called for systemic change in Pakistan to protect women from violence.

Yesterday, Aziz's husband and one of his employees were handed over to police on four-day physical remand.

The two were taken into custody on Wednesday after a video of Aziz began circulating on social media. Aziz said her husband of four years had "always hit me a lot".

"He took my clothes off in front of his employees. The employees held me as he shaved my hair off and burned it. My clothes were bloody. I was bound by a pipe and hung from the fan. He threatened to hang me naked," she had said in the video.

Aziz, in her video, had also alleged that when she went to the Kahna police station to register a complaint, the officers, instead of providing her the FIR number or conducting a medical examination, asked her for money. Model Town Superintendent Police Muhammad Ali Wasim had taken notice of her allegations and directed the deputy superintendent of police to look into the matter.

Pakistan ranks 150 out of 153 countries on The Georgetown Institute's Women, Peace and Security index ─ among the five worst countries for women in the world. According to 2016 data, 26.8 per cent of Pakistani women said they have experienced intimate partner violence.

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