Police officials escorting Shahrukh Jatoi as he is taken by the medical board tasked to determine his age at Civil Hospital in Karachi on Wednesday, Feb 20, 2013. — Photo by PPI

KARACHI: A seven-member team of doctors tasked to determine the age of the prime suspect in the Shahzeb Khan murder case has finished compiling its findings in a report to be presented in court on Monday.

The seven-member board of doctors on Saturday concluded its findings, which has now been compiled in a sealed report to be presented in an anti-terrorism court in Karachi on Feb 11.

Karachi police had earlier handed over required documents pertinent to the team to determine the real age of Shahrukh Jatoi, the prime suspect.

Jatoi’s real age has so far been a matter of debate and controversy.

Sources told DawnNews on Saturday that, among the documents submitted by police, Jatoi’s birth certificate states his date of birth as December 27, 1993, according to which the suspect is over the legal age of 18 years.

An earlier report by a medical team had declared that Shahrukh Jatoi was underage, and the suspect was sent to a juvenile prison.

An anti-terrorism court last week rejected the report and ordered fresh tests, just a day after the Supreme Court expressed concern over attempts being made to declare the prime suspect in the case a juvenile.

Shahzeb Khan, a 20-year-old youth, was gunned down on Dec 25, 2012 near his house in Karachi’s Defence Housing Society. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had taken a suo motu notice in this case.

Within hours of the incident, Shahrukh Jatoi had fled to the UAE, from where he was later arrested.

On Wednesday, a medical team conducted another ossification test of the suspect, and had also found initial signs of his adulthood.

One of the team of doctors conducting the test had told Dawn that Jatoi “has 32 teeth along with molar teeth on all four jaws, which is one of the signs of adulthood.”

Siraj Talpur, a suspected accomplice in the murder, and three other suspects in the case were earlier arrested during raids in different towns in Sindh.

Opinion

A state of chaos

A state of chaos

The establishment’s increasingly intrusive role has further diminished the credibility of the political dispensation.

Editorial

Bulldozed bill
Updated 22 May, 2024

Bulldozed bill

Where once the party was championing the people and their voices, it is now devising new means to silence them.
Out of the abyss
22 May, 2024

Out of the abyss

ENFORCED disappearances remain a persistent blight on fundamental human rights in the country. Recent exchanges...
Holding Israel accountable
22 May, 2024

Holding Israel accountable

ALTHOUGH the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor wants arrest warrants to be issued for Israel’s prime...
Iranian tragedy
Updated 21 May, 2024

Iranian tragedy

Due to Iran’s regional and geopolitical influence, the world will be watching the power transition carefully.
Circular debt woes
21 May, 2024

Circular debt woes

THE alleged corruption and ineptitude of the country’s power bureaucracy is proving very costly. New official data...
Reproductive health
21 May, 2024

Reproductive health

IT is naïve to imagine that reproductive healthcare counts in Pakistan, where women from low-income groups and ...