Late announcement of SOPs for bodies’ handover deprives Polani family of burial of loved one

Mismanagement and nonchalant attitude on the part of the Sindh government and the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has deprived the Polanis of the burial of the eldest son of the family that perished in the PIA flight PK-8304 crash on May 22.

The heart-rending story started when Zain Polani flew to Lahore to bring his wife Sarah Polani and their three children back to Karachi. On Friday, May 22, the family boarded the ill-fated PIA flight which crashed in the heavily populated Jinnah Garden locality, some 10 seconds before it was supposed to land at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi.

Sarah, who taught at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), had also acquired scholarship from the Pakistani government to pursue her PhD in Manchester, United Kingdom.

She along with her three children, 14-year-old Muhammad Ibrahim Polani, 10-year-old Muhammad Usman Polani and four-year-old Muhammad Siddiq Polani, had arrived in Lahore from Manchester to celebrate Eid.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Zain’s first cousin Komail Polani recalled that Sarah and her three children were quarantined in a hotel for 24 hours. “Zain, in order to make sure that his children and wife were properly quarantined and did not face any trouble, flew to Lahore,” Komail told The News.

Zain, who was a banker in Karachi, perished along with his wife and three sons in the crash. The bodies of Zain and Sarah were recognised through the DNA test, after which their family performed their burial, however, the family was then unable to get the bodies of the children.

On the second day of the crash, Komail shared, the mother and brother of Zain and father of Sarah went to the International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) at the University of Karachi (KU) to give their swab samples for the DNA tests.

However, the family could not get the body of the eldest child of Zain and Sarah, Ibrahim. On Thursday, the Polani family buried Usman and Siddiq in the Mewa Shah Graveyard without their eldest sibling as some other family had taken Ibrahim’s body from the Edhi centre.

“That family was searching for their daughter who was wearing braces,” said Komail, adding that even Ibrahim wore braces. He explained that once bodies are severely burnt, it gets difficult to distinguish two bodies on the basis of gender.

“We were told that Ibrahim’s body has been taken away by some family 11 days ago,” he said, adding that the family had also buried Ibrahim on the second day of Eid in a graveyard in Defense Housing Authority Phase VIII.

The Polani family demands investigation into the matter. “It’s a matter of humanity, not of a single body,” said Komail, adding that there have been similar cases with other families as well. “How come the police and the PIA let someone take body without proper verification?” he asked.

It is pertinent to mention here that the authorities in Karachi sprang into action seven days after the crash, when many families had already claimed bodies at whim.

It was on May 29, Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Shallwani issued standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the identification of the bodies of the plane crash victims.

The commissioner deputed the relevant deputy commissioner (DC) and assistant commissioners (ACs) or mukhtiarkars at the mortuaries of Edhi in Sohrab Goth and Chhipa in Nursery.

The Sindh police department was also directed to deploy its officers of superintendent rank to be present at the mortuaries to complete the legal formalities and coordinate with the district administration.