Attempts to derail cases at DMCH revealing

The irregularities in autopsies at the Dhaka Medical College knew no bound as powerful quarters in collusion with law enforcing agencies threatened doctors and created obstacles to performing their duties after the independence of the country to manipulate results in their favor.

The powerful quarters - some officials in the ministry concerned, political elites- bypassing the law of the land especially with regard to re-autopsy and exhuming bodeis tried to serve their own interests. This type of incident was suspected in the Saleha murder case of the early eighties, Shahnaz Nabi case, in which the victim died in Saudi Arabia in 1991 and in the case of a captain of a ship who died in Cyprus in 1991.

In the sensational Saleha murder case in 1981, the autopsy report was distorted at the behest of some influential people. Saleha's husband Dr Iqbal was a physician at Dhaka Medical College Hospital that time. The body of the victim was exhumed for re-autopsy bypassing some rules. It was reported even though importantly the re-autopsy disproved earlier findings as claimed. As a result, Dr Iqbal was found guilty and hanged.

In the case of a Bangladeshi captain who worked in a ship in Cyprus and reportedly committed suicide by hanging himself in the ship in 1991, a powerful quarter in Bangladesh allegedly tried to establish as a homicide. The Cypriot authorities after a post-mortem had come to the conclusion that this was a case of suicide, but did not publish the autopsy report.

The certain quarter in Bangladesh went to work on arrival of the dead body arranging hurriedly to conduct a re-autopsy here without any reference to the papers relating to the body. They managed to get a special magistrate at the then Zia International Airport for the purpose. The doctor at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) primarily refused to conduct the re-autopsy at they were not informed earlier as required by law. The doctors said the autopsy conducted in Cyprus was authentic as there were sophisticated machines there. Policemen involved in this connection played a mysterious role, it is reported.

Sources in the Forensic Department of DMCH told The Asian Age that the quarters had concealed the first report of autopsy.In the case of Shahnaz Nabi, the law enforcing agencies allegedly played a very controversial role. Sources told The Asian Age that the Shahnaz Nabi, daughter of Dr Golam Nabi died in Saudi Arabia two decades back due to brain hemorrhage. She was at an advanced stage of pregnancy. The doctors in Saudi Arabia kept her alive for a few days artificially for the sake of getting the unborn infant delivered. The supporting system was cut down after the delivery.

Meanwhile, Dr Golam Nabi, father of the deceased arrived in the Saudi Arabia two days before the scheduled date. On arrival, Dr Nabi, who was once a principal of Dhaka Medical College, filed a case against his son-in-law Dr Wadud alleging that he had murdered his daughter Shahnaz.

The Saudi Court in a judgment said that it was a natural death. Dr Nabi brought the body home.But returning from Saudi Arabia, Dr Nabi again filed a case against his son-in-law accusing him killing his daughter.The Cantonment police allegedly violating law made an inquest report which is the given work of a magistrate. They brought the embalmed body to Dhaka Medical College at an odd hour and that too, without informing the forensic department of DMC. As it was a holiday, the department was closed. The body was then preserved in the Diabetic Hospital. A five-member committee re-autopsy team confirmed the Saudi Court's version of a natural death.

Dr Nabi challenging the report in a court another autopsy was ordered to be conducted in the Combined Military Hospital (CMH). But the CMH authorities treated the matter as a civilian one refusing to do the re-autopsy. Later on a committee was formed with experts drawn from different medical colleges. The Committee exhumed the body and conducted the re-autopsy at Banani graveyard but could not pass any comment as the body was badly decomposed.

The interesting thing in the inquest report was that it contained some technical terms used by the investigating officer who was not supposed to be conversant with such words. How he could write down technical terms in the inquest report raised eye-brows, the sources said.Some said that the Saudi authorities got angry at the disrespect shown by Dr Nabi to that country's legal process and arranged a trial in absentia ordering 50 lashes on him.    

-Tapan Khan, AA