Karachi police to exhume Dr Maha's body for postmortem

KARACHI: The body of 25-year-old Dr Maha Shah, who allegedly died by suicide on August 18, will be exhumed for a postmortem, police said Tuesday, in a bid to tie up the loose ends in a legal manner.

The senior superintendent of police (SSP) for investigation, Basheer Ahmed Brohi, explained that a proper and clear medical report would be compiled following the postmortem, as opposed to the prior report.

The previous report became shady after the deceased's father, Syed Asif Ali Shah, accused two suspects — Junaid Khan and Waqas Hassan Rizvi — of working with the doctors to have the medico-legal officer (MLO) changed.

The suspects would have otherwise had an edge if the prior report was to be considered in the case, he added.

SSP Brohi further explained that a team — comprising a police surgeon, MLOs, and doctors — would travel to Mirpurkhas for the exhumation process. He said evidence from the crime scene suggested she was shot in the head from her right side.

A day earlier, Dr Maha's father had claimed that two of the three prime suspects influenced the probe into his daughter's death on August 18.

Fighting 'legal battle alone'

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

"The first to reach the hospital was Waqas [Hassan Rizvi], who identified himself as a technician. Then Junaid [Khan] arrived," he had added. "Waqas and Junaid, in collaboration with the doctors, had the MLO replaced."

The grieving father had said the family was in shock and "not in the right state of mind" due to her death. "We had gone to the village" in Mirpurkhas afterward, he added.

Also read: Dr Maha's father claims prime suspects influenced probe into daughter's death

Claiming that Dr Maha was being blackmailed, he had said: "My daughter is gone now but people should save their daughters from men like Junaid. 

"He treated my daughter horribly," he said about Junaid, accusing him of physically abusing her as well. "My daughter shared what happened with her with her friends.

Though satisfied with what authorities have been doing, he had also appealed to higher officials to take notice of his daughter's apparent suicide.

"I will fight this legal battle alone," he had added.

Allegations of rape, harassment

So far, one suspect — a famed dentist — has been arrested, according to the senior superintendent of police (SSP) for investigation. Raids were being carried out to search for and arrest the other two suspects named in the case, he had added.

In the first information report (FIR) registered at the Gizri police station, Shah — the doctor-influencer's father — had accused the suspects of raping and injuring his daughter, getting her addicted to drugs, and severely harassing her to the extent that she chose to end her life.

Dr Maha’s youngest sister, Fatima, had also concurred with her father’s statement, saying her late sister had extreme depression and anxiety and told her numerous times of her intention to die by suicide.