Dr Maha’s body exhumed from Mirpurkhas grave for fresh autopsy

The body of Dr Maha Shah, who had been practising at a private hospital in Clifton and had allegedly committed suicide by shooting herself at her house in the upmarket DHA neighbourhood on August 18, was exhumed from her grave in Mirpurkhas on Thursday for a fresh post-mortem examination.

A five-member team of medical experts exhumed the body following a sessions court’s permission. Dr Maha’s father Syed Asif Ali Shah had moved an application in court seeking a fresh autopsy to ascertain the actual cause of her death. The government had constituted the team for the purpose on the court’s orders.

Police had initially said that Dr Maha committed suicide. However, they later filed a case against her friends Junaid Khan, Waqas Hasan, Dr Irfan Qureshi, Saad and Tabish on the complaint of her father, who claimed they lured her into using drugs, which later led to her death.

A police surgeon had earlier issued a notification stating that Dr Maha’s body would be exhumed on October 15. The SHO of the Gizri police station in Karachi had been ordered to make all the necessary arrangements for the process.

This past Tuesday, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had granted pre-arrest bail to two of the suspects in the Dr Maha death case. Khan and Hasan had approached the court to obtain pre-arrest bail after the recalling of their bail from a sessions court.

Dr Maha’s family claims that she had told them that she was being threatened with dire consequences, was also being humiliated and that she had told them that she would end her life. The suspects had sought pre-arrest bail saying that they wanted to face the trial court’s proceedings but feared being arrested by the police. After the preliminary hearing of their applications, the SHC granted them pre-arrest bail and directed them to appear in the trial court.

On September 21, Khan and Hasan had escaped from the city courts after their application for interim bail was rejected. The two men fled in a rickshaw while the investigating officer could do nothing to stop them, following which he was suspended.

A senior officer had said that a case was being registered against the fleeing suspects because escaping from police custody was a crime. He said Khan was handcuffed while he escaped, adding that the IO had tried to catch them but they fled in a rickshaw.

Following the incident, Dr Maha’s father expressed fear that the suspects might leave the country. “If they haven’t done anything wrong, why did they escape? We’re satisfied with the police investigation, but fear that the suspects might escape abroad.”

Shah had accused the men of getting his daughter addicted to drugs. He said they would easily escape from the country just like they had managed to escape from the court. Earlier, a judicial magistrate had dismissed the pre-arrest bail applications of Khan and Hasan after the police submitted the interim charge sheet in the Dr Maha death case.

They sought pre-arrest bail claiming that they were innocent and falsely implicated in the case. The District South JM-VII said that prima facie there were sufficient evidences available with the prosecution against the two men.

At the outset of the hearing, the IO submitted the interim charge sheet. The report said that the 9mm pistol used in the incident was licensed to Saad, who had purchased it from Tabish. Saad had given the pistol to Dr Maha a month ago, according to the report, and her death occurred with the same weapon. The report said that verification of Saad’s licence was still awaited.