Vet held after female employee’s suicide at sea remanded in police custody

A court granted on Monday five-day police remand of a veterinary doctor held in connection with the death of a young woman, who reportedly committed suicide by jumping into the sea due to sexual harassment.

The body of 23-year-old Sara Malik, who worked at a veterinary hospital in DHA, was found near Farhan Shaheed Park at Seaview on Sunday. The suspect, owner of the hospital, was booked and arrested for allegedly sexually harassing her, which apparently led her to take the extreme step of ending her life.

The investigating officer produced Dr Shan Saleem before Judicial Magistrate (South) Mazhar Ali to obtain his physical remand for interrogation about the case.

The investigation officer stated that the suspect had been nominated in the case, which was initially registered under Section 356 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). However, he added, Section 302 (murder) of the PPC was added to the FIR after the recovery of the woman’s body.

The police officer said that as per the account of an eyewitness, the victim sat all alone on the shore and cried before jumping into the sea and that the incident took place three days back. He said the body didn’t appear to be two days old, and the post-mortem report would ascertain the exact time and cause of the death.

He requested the magistrate to hand over the custody of the suspect to the police for interrogation and completion of the investigation and other legal formalities. Accepting his request, the judicial magistrate remanded the suspect in police custody for five days with a direction to produce him on the next date along with an investigation report.

The woman had gone missing on Friday, following which the FIR was lodged on the complaint of her father. During the initial investigation, the police said it transpired that the hospital owner (a veterinary doctor) had been sexually harassing the woman.