Provisional autopsy report rules out stoning as cause of Gul Sama’s death
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HYDERABAD: A provisional post-mortem report on the body of alleged stoning victim Gul Sama has concluded that the girl had died after suffering multiple fractures caused by some “heavy, hard and blunt object” and “no mark of injuries caused by stoning” was found on other parts of the body.
The report, a copy of which was obtained by Dawn on Monday, was issued by a five-member medical board constituted on court orders to exhume the body and probe the causes that led to the death of nine-year-old Gul Sama who was alleged to have been stoned to death in Shahi Makan area near Wahi Pandhi town (Dadu district) on Nov 21 under a jirga verdict.
The report said in its provisional conclusion that “fractures of base of skull bone, zygomatic bones, fracture and dislocation of mandibular bones and posterior four ribs caused by heavy hard blunt substance are sufficient to cause instant death in ordinary course of nature”.
It said that the samples taken from the body had been sent for chemical analysis to detect poisoning and carry out DNA test.
The board members observed that the girl’s grave was about four feet deep and the body was found shrouded in a coffin.
“No mark of violence or injuries from stoning seen externally on face, chest, abdomen, arms, legs, hands, thighs and feet of the deceased,” they said.
The girl’s father who had identified the grave had stated before the board that his daughter was playing with other children when a heavy stone dislodged from a nearby hill fell on her head and back of the chest and she died instantly.
The board was headed by additional medical superintendent of Liaquat University Hospital Dr Qurban Shah and the members were; Dr Waheed Nahiyoon, associate professor of department of forensic medicine of Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS); Dr Abdul Aziz Sheikh, assistant professor of department of pathology LUMHS; Dr Nusrat Zia, medical officer; and police surgeon Dr Bhansidhar.
HRCP clarification
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said on Monday that its fact-finding mission’s investigation into alleged stoning incident of Gul Sama in Wahi Pandhi was under way.
HRCP Lahore secretariat clarified with reference to a news story that appeared in this paper a day before that the HRCP’s head office would release the mission’s findings only after the investigation had been completed and conclusive evidence obtained, said a handout.
Johi court extends remand of Gul Sama’s father
DADU: The court of first civil judge and judicial magistrate of Johi on Monday remanded father of alleged ‘stoning’ victim Gul Sama, Ali Bux Rind, and Maulvi Mumtaz Leghari, who led her funeral prayers, for three more days in police custody.
ASI Ghulam Qadir Gopang lodged FIR of the incident on behalf of the state by at Wahi Pandhi police station on Nov 30 after a Karachi-based journalist aired news that the girl was stoned to death over a jirga verdict in a karo-kari dispute.
Meanwhile, a large number of residents of Wahi Pandhi town and its adjoining areas held protest against the journalist for spreading the “false news” of stoning to death.
They carried banners and placards and demanded release of Ali Bux and Maulvi Mumtaz Leghari.
They demanded action against the journalist for spreading the “fake news”.
Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2019
