Father refuses to present son before incomplete medical board

CADET COLLEGE INCIDENT
Teenager’s examination to be rescheduled after missing member’s return to country

The teenage boy who was allegedly subjected to physical assault by his teachers was not presented before the special medical board on Monday because his father deemed the presence of an ENT specialist essential for examining the kid.

Muhammad Ahmed Hussain reportedly suffered inhuman torture at the hands of his instructors at the Cadet College Larkana, leaving the teenager paralysed and mentally handicapped.

After the media highlighted the incident, the Sindh Health Department constituted a 10-member board – comprising senior neurologists, ENT specialists, paediatricians and other experts from public and private hospitals – on Saturday to examine the boy and ascertain the causes of his injuries so they could recommend whether he could be treated in Pakistan or abroad.

On Monday, however, the board could not meet because, according to Health Secretary Usman Chachar, one of the board members – Prof Dr Umer Farooq, head of the ENT department at the Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) – was out of the country and the student’s father, Muhammad Hussain, refused to present his son before them in his absence.

“We postponed the board meeting and informed Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, who had ordered the board’s formation.”

Chachar said the health department was trying to reach Dr Farooq to find out his expected date of return so that the child’s examination could be rescheduled.

Prof Junaid Ashraf – chief of CHK’s neurosurgery department – heads the special board, while Prof Jamal Raza – director of the National Institute of Child Health – is the board’s convener.

Other members include Dr Lal Rehman, professor of neurosurgery at the JPMC, Dr Muhammad Usman, assistant professor of ENT at the JPMC, Dr Iqbal Ahmed Moghira and Dr Prem Chand of the Aga Khan University Hospital, Dr Jalil Qadir, director of the CB Lab Karachi, and Prof Muhammad Hassan Shaikh and Dr Alam Ibrahim Siddiqui of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University Larkana.

The health secretary said the medical board would present their report on the same day they examine the teenager. Meanwhile, the Pannu Aqil general officer commanding has also ordered an inquiry into the incident.