The female remains with Davis for a couple of hours in the name of “social therapy” and has the authorization to meet him daily according to the instructions of the federal government to the Punjab administration as part of the consular access, a senior official told The News.

Washington has appointed social consulars in areas that it has categorized as “hard”. It put Pakistan in this type.The official said that during her visits the social consular chats with the inmate to keep him in good humour so that the bouts of depression that he experiences do not hurt him in any way.

Apart from the US Consul General in Lahore and some others, a medical doctor also has the permission to see Davis whenever he likes to examine his condition, the official said. He said that the Punjab home department in consultation with the Lahore High Court (LHC) decided to hold Davis’s trial in the Kot Lakhpat jail in both the cases of murder and possession of illicit arms.

He said the home department prepared the report on the basis of the grounds given by police for in-camera proceedings with the primary purpose of ensuring Davis’s security, and shared it with the LHC.

The official said that the Punjab government has not so far received anything from federal authorities including the foreign ministry about the diplomatic immunity or otherwise of Davis. Similarly, it has got no response to its half a dozen letters about the handing over of the driver and the rescue vehicle, which ran over a passerby, to provincial authorities. He said that the US consulate told a police party, which tried to visit it on Tuesday, that it has received no instructions either from the federal government or the embassy in this connection.

“We have no idea about the stand the federal government would take in the LHC in the next date of hearing of the case on March 14 because the consultative process is totally missing between the two administrations in the Davis case,” the official said.

He said the staff of the US embassy and Lahore consulate would be allowed to attend the trial, who would be permitted by the concerned court. The official expressed ignorance about efforts to work out the amount of blood money to be paid to the heirs of Davis’s victims. He had no knowledge whether or not the US mission has approached these families.

However, reports indicate that hectic attempts are underway at different levels and by different persons to reach out-of-court settlement by paying compensation to the heirs. The concerned courts would be accordingly informed after such an arrangement concluded. The official said that Davis did not observe any hunger strike on Tuesday. He did not have one time meal, as he did not feel hungry. But he ate the second meal the same day.