Suspects granted interim bail in Dr Maha death case

A sessions court on Wednesday granted interim bail to two suspects in Dr Maha Ali Shah death case as they had surrendered to the court after obtaining pre-arrest bail from the Sindh High Court.

Junaid Khan and Waqas Hasan had escaped from the City Courts on a previous hearing after their previous bail was recalled by the trial court on the basis of a charge sheet filed by police against them.

The court ordered them to submit a surety of Rs50,000 each in order to obtain the interim bail. They were also told to join the police investigation and appear in the court on the next hearing.

The two men were booked by the police in the case pertaining to the death of Dr Maha, 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, after being allegedly harassed and poisoned by the suspects.

According to police, the suspects Khan, Hasan and Dr Irfan Qureshi, who has been partially discharged from the case, had subjected Dr Maha to mental and physical torture, threatened her and lured her into using drugs, which later led to her death.

Her family claims that Dr Maha had told them that she was being threatened with dire consequences and 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 arrest. After the preliminary hearing of their applications, the SHC granted them pre-arrest bail on October 13 and directed them to appear in the trial court.

Escape from 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. As the investigation officer did nothing to stop them, he was suspended.

A senior officer said Khan was handcuffed when he escaped. He added that this could have been prevented if there had been enough police strength. In a video clip of the incident, the two men could be seen running out of the court.

Dr Maha’s father Syed Asif Ali Shah feared 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.”

Case background

Dr Maha, who had been practising at a private hospital in Clifton, allegedly committed suicide by shooting herself at her house in the upmarket DHA neighbourhood last month. Police booked her friends — Dr Qureshi, Khan, Hasan, Saad and Tabish — on the complaint of her father, who claimed that they had abused his daughter and poisoned or intoxicated her, which led to her death.

The investigation 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.

Originally from Mirpurkhas, Dr Maha had been renting a house in DHA Phase-IV, where she moved with her father and sisters. In August she had been taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre with critical wounds but could not survive. Police had declared her death a suicide.

Her father had claimed that two of the three prime suspects influenced the investigation into his daughter’s death. He said Khan and Hasan worked with the doctors to have the medico-legal officer (MLO) changed after his daughter’s body was sent to the hospital.

“Why did my daughter commit suicide? It was being claimed that Dr Maha was upset with her parents,” he said, adding that he worked hard to ensure his daughter got a good education.