Suspects in Dr Maha death case flee from court to escape arrest

KARACHI: The two suspects in the Dr Maha case managed to flee from the courtroom to escape arrest on Monday, after their interim bail plea was rejected.

Junaid and Waqas, the two men who have been booked in the case, can be seen in a video running out of the court, the former wearing handcuffs as he ran.

Before he fled from the court in a rickshaw, Junaid alleged that the investigation officer had taken Rs100,000 from the two suspects to influence the case in their favour.

Meanwhile, Dr Maha's father had accused the suspects of getting his daughter "addicted to drugs", adding that the two will be able to flee the country similar to the way they had managed to escape from the court premises.

Read more: Dr Maha's father claims prime suspects influenced probe into daughter's death

Originally from Mirpurkhas, Dr Maha Ali had rented a house in the Defence Housing Authority's Phase IV area and moved there along with her father and sisters.

She was working at a private hospital in the city's upscale Clifton area.

In August, she was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre where she succumbed to her wounds after being admitted for suffering a critical injury.

The city police has declared Dr Maha's death a suicide, claiming that she had allegedly shot herself.

Prime suspects influenced probe 

The doctor's father has claimed that two of the three prime suspects influenced the probe into his daughter's death.

Addressing a press conference, Syed Asif Ali Shah said Junaid and Waqas worked with doctors to have the medico-legal officer (MLO) changed when her daughter's body was sent to the hospital.

Read more: Karachi police to exhume Dr Maha's body for postmortem

"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.

The first to reach the hospital was Waqas, who identified himself as a technician. Then Junaid arrived," Dr Maha's father added. "Waqas and Junaid, in collaboration with the doctors, had the MLO replaced."

Fighting 'legal battle alone'

The grieving father said Dr Maha's family was in shock and "not in the right state of mind" due to her death. "We had gone to the village afterwards, he had said.

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

"He treated my daughter horribly," he said, referring to Junaid, adding that the man physically abused her as well. "My daughter shared what happened with her to her friends.

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