SC sets up committee to ascertain those responsible in Amal Umar case

 

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has set up a committee to ascertain those responsible in the death of Amal Umar who passed away after being hit by a bullet allegedly shot by a police officer during an encounter two months ago.

The six-member committee — which includes AD Khawaja, the former inspector-general of police (IGP) for Sindh — will be headed by Justice (retd) Khilji Arif Hussain.

The scope of the committee's investigation, set by the Supreme Court, is to probe the role of police officers involved in the tragic incident, a private hospital, and a private ambulance service, the latter two of which had reportedly denied emergency treatment and medical aid.

CJP takes notice of 10-year-old Amal’s death in Karachi

The matter is due to be heard on Sept 25

The committee will further investigate whether there was any kind of hindrance or obstruction and present its report to the Supreme Court.

CJP takes notice

Back on September 18, Justice Mian Saqib Nisar — the chief justice of Pakistan — had taken a suo moto notice of the minor girl's death in Karachi’s Akhtar Colony area after the child's bereaved parents had appeared on the morning show Geo Pakistan and narrated their ordeal of the day they lost their daughter.

According to them, the family had just been robbed while they were waiting at a signal when they "heard a gunshot and a bullet suddenly hit our windshield".

“There was a lot of traffic at the signal at the time. The man took my wife’s phone and bag and then told us to roll up the windows and left," the father had said.

"When I turned, I saw Amal lying in a pool of blood and my other daughter clutching my seat," Umar had said.

The bullet that hit Amal was had been fired by a police officer, using an AK-47, who was trying to kill the mugger on the eve of Independence Day.

The parents have claimed that the staff at the National Medical Centre (NMC) had refused to help them as it was a "medico-legal case" and asked them to take the child to Jinnah Hospital. They initially did not even help them arrange an ambulance, her mother had added.

"When we asked if we could take the ambu bag along, the NMC staff refused," she had noted. "My daughter was breathing till we were at NMC."

The Supreme Court, nevertheless, issued notices to the Advocate General, Secretary of Health, IGP Sindh, and the NMC administrator in this regard.

Conflicting accounts

Sources at the NMC conflicted the parent's version and claimed that the girl had passed away when she was brought to the hospital. Aman Ambulance CEO Shazina Masood, on the other hand, had said they received the first call at 10:32PM, for a duration of 4.5 minutes, and returned the call at 10:42PM, with the ambulance reaching at 10:52PM.

“We just have 60 ambulances to cater to the city and our average response time is from 12 to 14 minutes,” said CEO Aman ambulance service.

Javed Alam Odho, the deputy inspector-general (DIG) for South who also appeared alongside Amal's parents on Geo Pakistan, had said: “We are aware this wasn’t a routine case."

The registration of a medico-legal case "is important in case an injury or death occurs, he had explained. "If a medico-legal case is not registered, an investigation cannot take place as we will not have the evidence to present in court.”

Karachi has recently seen a rise in street crimes as well as cases of negligence and carelessness that eventually turn into tragedies.