Children’s Hospital accused of hushing up rape

The family of a five-year-old rape victim belonging to Kasur has alleged that the Children’s Hospital administration not only tried to hush up the matter but also discharged the minor girl in haste without giving her proper treatment, a media outfit reported on Saturday.

According to the Dawn.com report, the hospital’s Medical Director Ahsan Waheed Rathor claimed that the child was properly attended at the facility and that she was discharged after her family refused to continue the treatment there.

The girl was raped in Kasur from where she was referred to Children’s Hospital by doctors given her serious condition. She is now under treatment at District Headquarter Hospital Kasur, where, according to the family, her condition is said to be serious, said the report.

The girl’s uncle told the media outfit that she was admitted to a private ward at the first floor of Children’s Hospital under registration No 208486 and was discharged three hours later in ‘haste’. He said the hospital administration had strictly told the girl’s father not to disclose the matter to the media.

He said that the girl was playing along with her younger brother outside her house located on Shahbaz Raod, Kasur, on Sunday evening when she suddenly disappeared around 7pm. The family noticed her disappearance an hour later and started looking for her, but to no avail. He said later a passerby found her lying unconscious near an outhouse and contacted the family.

“We found the girl with blood on her clothes and immediately rushed her to a local hospital from where the doctors referred her to Children’s Hospital due to her critical condition,” the girl’s uncle said.

He said the victim’s father was a poor labourer and he could not afford her treatment in Lahore. However, he said, given her deteriorating condition, he said, the family shifted her to Children’s Hospital on Thursday afternoon.

He said Kasur police had arrested a resident of the same locality over suspicion of his involvement in the inhuman act and lodged a case.

Children’s Hospital Medical Director Prof Dr Ehsan Waheed Rathore denied the allegations of the family, saying the rape victim was properly looked after at the health facility.

He said that the Kasur executive district officer (Health) had informed him about the incident.

“The EDO told me that he wanted to refer the girl to Children’s Hospital from DHQ Hospital Kasur for her proper treatment,” Dr Rathore said, adding later a deputy medical superintendent of the hospital brought the girl to Children’s Hospital.

He said she was immediately shifted to a private room of the health facility. Pediatric surgery department head Prof Dr Muhammad Salim had directed the staff to keep the girl under observation for 24 hours in view of her some complications but her family refused to continue treatment at the hospital, he said, adding that the parents of the girl told the doctors that they wanted to get treatment at the Kasur DHQ hospital.