A two-member medical board has been formed for medico-legal examination of a teenage girl, who allegedly eloped to Punjab and had solemnized freewill marriage, on court orders.
The Medical board which will be headed by Police Surgeon Karachi Dr Summaiya Syed includes a Woman Medico-Legal Officer (WMLO) Dr Sidra Traiq.
Additional Sessions Judge East-VII, a gender-based violence court, had directed the Investigation Officer (IO) of the case to refer the girl to the Police Surgeon and get her medico-legal examination done.
The board has directed the IO to produce the teenager in the office of the Police Surgeon Karachi on September 1 (tomorrow) at 10am.
Sources, privy to this development, told Jee News that the medico-legal examination will be carried out under section 5(a) of the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Act, 2021 and Rule 5 and 21(c) of the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Rules, 2020.
What the board will be looking for?
The board will look for physical injury to the victim, sexual abuse perpetrated on her, sexually transmitted disease if any, and medical termination of pregnancies or miscarriages.
The board will also seek the opinion of the psychologist on the psychosocial trauma experienced by the girl during her stay with the man she had allegedly eloped with.
Under section 21(c)(v), the IO will have to get the tests conducted to verify the age of the girl. However, the sources claimed that the age assessment of the girl has already been conducted twice in the recent past and there is no need to ascertain her age.
The sources added that it is nearly impossible to retrieve a sample for DNA matching after the lapse of months, but the board will still try to locate and retrieve samples for DNA matching.
Battle for medico-legal examination
The complainant, the father of the victim, had to fight a legal battle to get her medical examination of his daughter who according to him was abducted.
Initially, DSP Saeed Ahmed Rind, former IO of the case, moved an application for medical examination before Judicial Magistrate East-XXVI on August 1 but the court declined the request in the interest of the victim. The complainant challenged that order and filed a Criminal Revision before a gender-based violence court – Additional Sessions Judge East-VII.
The court ruled on August 6 that Criminal Revision, in this case, is not maintainable. The complainant then moved to the Sindh High Court (SHC).
According to the SHC order, issued on August 23, the applicant is at liberty to apply to the trial court, if permitted under the law.
