Web desk: Serious irregularities and human rights violations have come to light at Lahore’s General Hospital, where untrained male staff have reportedly been conducting postmortems of women in the hospital’s morgue, according to sources.
Corruption, mismanagement, and human rights violations have been reported at Lahore’s General Hospital.
According to sources, untrained male staff are performing postmortems of women in the hospital’s morgue. Media footage shows untrained workers carrying out postmortems without a doctor present.
In the video, a helper is seen conducting the postmortem of a woman, while another person, who is not a doctor or hospital employee, is stitching the body.
These actions are both illegal, severely unethical and medically unauthorised.
Unrelated persons have also been allowed to handle the bodies of women during the sensitive postmortem process.
Notice Taken
Provincial Health Minister and Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Law and Order, Khawaja Salman Rafique, has taken notice of the situation.
He is a senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
According to a 1996 Supreme Court ruling, autopsies of women must be done by female doctors. But reports show that this rule is often ignored.
Male doctors still perform postmortems on women because there are not enough female staff. This practice is considered disrespectful to the deceased and their families by many.
Past Case of Males Performing Women’s Autopsies
A report by Dawn on December 27, 2003, said that male medico-legal officers were still conducting postmortems on women in violation of the Supreme Court’s orders.
The Supreme Court gave this ruling on March 20, 1996.
The court said that postmortems of women by male doctors were shameful and insulting. It added that this practice was against Islamic teachings and hurt the feelings of the deceased’s relatives.
The court ordered that, in the future, only female doctors should perform autopsies on women. No male staff should be present during the procedure.
