GUJRAT, April 1: No lady doctor is willing to work in civil hospitals of the Mandi Bahauddin district, where residents are seen running from pillar to post for post-mortem of women in murder and Hudood cases.
Information gleaned by this correspondent revealed that there were many factors behind lady doctors’ unwillingness to serve in Mandi.
According to the Mandi district health office, there were two posts of lady doctors at the DHQ, two at the Phalia THQ and one each in eight rural health centres (RHCs), all of which had been lying vacant for the last many years.
The authorities concerned have tried to appoint lady doctors against the vacant posts but to no avail, as the doctor concerned would either go on a medical leave or approach the competent authority to get her transferred to a place of her own choice.
In cases of murder and Hudood, a lady doctor has to issue an autopsy report or a medico-legal certificate, which the police and the complainants present in the court as evidence.
Experts said the lengthy court procedure in criminal cases had made lady doctors reluctant to join duty in Mandi, because she had to appear before the court again and again — for more than 10 times in some cases. They said sometimes the doctor had to visit a court situated at a long distance, and wait for many hours outside the court in scorching heat.
Cross-questioning, which in Hudood cases included even objectionable questions, also tested the nerves of lady doctors, they said.
Mandi DHO Dr Arshad Mahmood Tabassam told Dawn that his office had been regularly sending reminders to the authorities concerned for appointment of lady doctors against the vacant posts.
In view of the unavailability of lady doctors in Mandi, the health secretary has directed the management of Gujrat DHQ hospital to perform post-mortem of the victims in murder and Hudood cases from Mandi. However, the Gujrat district government and the DCO had officially directed the health department not to handle cases from other districts.
This correspondent saw relatives of a suicide victim, Parveen (16) of Khizar Malikwal, shuttling between the offices of the Gujrat EDO Health and the medical superintendent of the local DHQ hospital for autopsy on March 10. The autopsy was thus delayed by 24 hours.
In a similar situation on March 13, hospital management’s reluctance delayed the post-mortem of a woman councillor, Ghafooran Bibi of Malikwal, by 36 hours, and was performed only on the intervention of the high-ups.
Sources in the health department said that the lady doctors who knew well the lengthy court procedure, had approached the Gujrat DCO and the district government for a ban on post-mortem of victims from other stations.
Health experts have requested the courts to record the statement of a lady doctor on priority basis.
They have also suggested to the health secretary to take disciplinary action against those lady doctors who were unwilling to work in Mandi Bahauddin.