Just as is the case elsewhere, crimes are committed daily in Sindh, investigations stumble routinely, and courts struggle to secure convictions. At the same time, hundreds of highly-trained forensic scientists remain unemployed or under-utilised. This contradiction exposes a deeper governance failure: the province continues to neglect scientific policing while producing graduates whose expertise the criminal justice system desperately needs, but refuses to absorb.

Over the last decade, Forensic Science has emerged as a specialised academic discipline across Pakistan. Universities now train students in forensic medicine, DNA fingerprinting, crime scene investigation, toxicology, ballistics and digital forensics. These graduates are taught to replace guesswork with evidence, and confessions with science. Yet, once their degrees are awarded, institutional demand largely disappears.

The employment landscape for forensic scientists is bleak. Government recruit-ment is infrequent, limited in scale and often contractual. Private-sector forensic laboratories are seriously scarce, and law-enforcement agencies lack sanctioned posts for trained forensic professionals. As a result, many of the graduates are forced into unrelated jobs or prolonged unemployment despite years of rigorous scientific education.

This neglect would have been a bit less alarming had the criminal justice system been functioning efficiently. The reality is actually quite the opposite. Poor crime scene management, mishandling of physical evidence and reliance on non-scientific investigative practices remain common.

Cases that frequently collapse during prosecution due to weak or contaminated evidence, broadly contribute to the low conviction rate, and erode public confidence in the larger law-enforcement machinery.

Forensic Science, as a field of study, is designed precisely to address all these failures. DNA fingerprinting can beyond doubt link suspects to crime scenes or exonerate the wrongly accused. Forensic medicine provides scientific clarity in cases of suspicious deaths, custodial fatalities and sexual violence. Crime scene analysts reconstruct events using physical traces, while digital forensic experts track cyber-crime, terrorism financing and organised criminal networks.

Much like the rest of Pakistan, Sindh does possess some forensic infrastructure, including DNA and serology laboratories, but their reach remains narrow and centralised. More importantly, there is no comprehensive provincial strategy to integrate forensic scientists into policing, prosecution or medico-legal services. Districts remain without dedicated forensic units, leaving untrained personnel to handle sensitive evidence under immense pressure and minimal oversight.

The cost of this failure is twofold. First, public funds are spent educating forensic scientists, but then they are excluded from the system. Simultaneously, ineffective investigations prolong trials, overcrowd prisons and deny justice to victims. In some cases, innocent individuals may suffer while perpetrators walk free, not due to lack of laws, but due to lack of scientific capacity.

Correcting the current imbalance requires decisive policy action. First, Forensic Science must be formally recognised as a core component of law-enforcement, not an auxiliary service. Regular, merit-based recruitment of forensic scientists into police departments, prosecution services and medico-legal institutions should be institutionalised. Second, district-level forensic units must be established to ensure timely evidence collection and analysis, reducing dependence on over-burdened central laboratories.

Equally important is aligning higher education with employment planning. Universities cannot continue producing graduates without clear professional pathways. Structured internships, trainee inductions and career progression frame-works are necessary to convert academic training into institutional capacity.

Asad Ali
Jamshoro

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2026