HYDERABAD: A 12-member medical board has examined a young girl who was admitted to the Liaquat University Hospital (LUH) for reconstructive surgery after she was subjected to a brutal attack in the Chhotiarioon (also known as Chhotiari) area of Sanghar district on Jan 21.

She had suffered grave injuries on different parts of her face and is now under treatment at LUH’s Plastic & Burns Ward.

The medical board comprises professors, associate professors and assistant professors of the Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences (LUMHS), Jamshoro. They belong to the faculties of gynaecology, ophthalmology, surgery, oral & maxillofacial surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, medicine, radiology and ENT.

The LUMHS registrar had formed the board on the request of the LUH medical superintendent.

The Sindh inspector general of police has constituted a six-member committee headed by the Mirpurkhas DIG to conduct a fair and transparent investigation into the incident, whose FIR (No. 3/26) was lodged at the Sanghar police station by the victim.

Other members of the committee are SSPs of Hyderabad and Sanghar, DSP Legal Zikria Korejo, SIP Abdul Hakeem Kumbhar and Sanghar CIA’s prosecution inspector Zahid Kamboh.

The committee is required to submit a comprehensive weekly report for perusal of the IGP. According to Sanghar SSP Abid Baloch, three different statements were made by the girl and her parents. One statement claimed the injuries to her were inflicted by ‘some thieves’; a second attributed them to a road accident; and a third statement suggested them to have been caused during sexual assault and violence.

“The FIR was lodged on the girl’s complaint after she recorded her video statement,” the SSP told Dawn over phone on Sunday. He said that her two medico-legal examinations for alleged sexual assault and violence were conducted at the Sanghar District Headquarters Hospital in view of her parent’s statements.

The girl had marks of injuries on her cheek, lips and forehead and she received stitches. She told police that these injuries were inflicted with a blade by a man, Wazir Rajar. However, the opinion in ‘sexual assault’ claim has been reserved for a DNA analysis. Samples were sent to LUMHS Molecular Biology Laboratory for DNA Testing. The lab received the samples on Friday.

The girl’s parents told media personnel that she had been subjected to sexual assault by Wazir Rajar, who also later gave her some intoxicant.

Shazia Marri wants severe punishment to culprit

Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarians (PPP-P) Information Secretary Shazia Marri has demanded severe punishment to the culprit.

Speaking to journalists at the LUH after inquiring about the health of the victim girl on Sunday, she said the injuries on her face would heal up, but those inflicted on her soul could not. “She is in complete trauma; I told her: you are innocent and you are not at fault; and don’t lose hope,” Ms Marri said.

She added that her confidence was shaken; anyone having children could feel her pain.

She pledged that she would strive to get the culprit punished through legal process. She urged the judiciary to hand down severe punishment to the guilty in this case.

Ms Marri could not confirm whether the victim was subjected to criminal assault as well.

“She informed me that her family didn’t speak because they were scared,” she said.

The PPP leader praised those who stood with the victim and ensured her transportation to the LUH. She especially lauded efforts by doctors at the Sanghar hospital.

She said that only female staff was serving her at the LUH as no male was being allowed to access her, barring her immediate family.

She said the girl would be taken care of even after she was discharged from the hospital.

She promised every possible assistance by the government in her case. She said she would speak to the CM and IGP to make sure that the investigation in the case remained on the right track.

She said she would also speak to the Sanghar SSP to ensure that her FIR was properly registered and there was no lacuna in it.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2026