KARACHI: Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed told a judicial commission on Monday that she had faced threats, intimidation and an online campaign against her after identifying alleged deficiencies in the initial autopsy of young businessman Mir Raza Ali.
Dr Syed recorded her statement before the commission headed by Sindh High Court Justice Omar Sial. Asked whether she had faced intimidation for challenging the findings of the first post-mortem examination, she said she had put her career and employment at risk by speaking what she believed to be the truth, describing the matter as a test case for her.
She told the commission that two motorcyclists had followed her while she was travelling home. She also said she was being defamed on social media and that information about her family and residential address had been circulated online. She said she had lodged a complaint with the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency.
Dr Syed further alleged that DIG Amir Farooqui had behaved towards her in a threatening manner and attempted to influence her after she raised concerns about the initial autopsy findings.
According to her testimony, when she approached the DIG to highlight shortcomings in the first autopsy report, she was told that police would adopt a lenient approach during questioning if she did not challenge findings that appeared to indicate suicide.
She also briefed the commission about the exhumation of Mir Raza Ali’s body and a second autopsy conducted by a medical board under the supervision of a judicial magistrate on August 8.
Dr Syed said that after identifying shortcomings in the first post-mortem examination, she proposed exhuming the body for another autopsy to SSPs Zubair Nazir and Samiullah Soomro. According to her, the officers asked her to persuade the victim’s family to agree to the procedure.
Responding to a question about changes to the medical board initially constituted for the exhumation, she said the director general of health had altered its composition. She said she did not know the reason for the change, but alleged that the deputy secretary for health verbally instructed her to withdraw from the board. Her name was subsequently included following an order from a judicial magistrate.
Dr Syed told the commission that the second autopsy supported her earlier observations. According to her, the medical examination established that the bullet had entered from the victim’s back and exited through his chest, with all members of the medical board unanimously agreeing on the findings of the second post-mortem.
She further testified that visible injuries were present on the victim’s head, his nose was fractured, and his hands and feet bore marks consistent with chemical burns.
According to Dr Syed, a chemical examination subsequently confirmed the presence of acid as well as carbonisation on the hands and feet. She maintained that these marks were not the result of skin slippage, although deterioration of the skin on the hands had been attributed to decomposition during the initial autopsy.
