A local doctor advised the resident of Tank, Syed Safeer Hussain Shah, to take his daughter to Multan for her treatment. The next day, he, along with his wife, relatives, and his 12-year-old ailing daughter Dua Zahra, travelled to Multan. On the way, the girl’s condition worsened significantly near the Saraaye Migrant Chowk. There, a doctor advised them to rush her to the Bhakkar District Headquarters Hospital, which was relatively nearby.

In his video statement, Safeer recounts that when he rushed the girl to the hospital, the staff admitted her to the emergency ward. Despite waiting for some time, when no doctor came to attend to her, they approached Dr Ahsan, who was busy on his mobile phone then.

According to Safeer, he informed Dr Ahsan about his daughter’s deteriorating condition and urged him to examine her immediately, but the doctor paid no attention. This led to an argument, during which the hospital staff arrived, and they began to assault Safeer and his wife physically. The girl received no medical attention during this chaos, and her condition deteriorated.

Safeer says that his daughter died after some time due to a lack of medical assistance.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ahsan came to the emergency ward with a dozen people and continued to torture him.

“These people were beating me, and my wife pleaded with them not to beat us and show some compassion, as our daughter had passed away.”

Local lawyer Muddasir Hussain, Advocate, was at DHQ during the incident. Upon reaching the emergency hall, he states that Safeer Hussain and his cousin’s brother requested the doctors and hospital staff to hand over their daughter’s body and let them leave, but they were not complying.

In the meantime, the police, led by DSP, also reached the spot and took Safeer Hussain into custody. Muddasir Hussain mentioned that they tried negotiating with the police and doctors to release Safeer Hussain and his family, but his efforts were unsuccessful.

The incident of the girl’s death quickly became viral on social media, leading to a wave of grief and anger throughout the city.
Local residents began protesting against the hospital and doctors.

The next day after the incident, Safeer’s brother-in-law and employee, Hussain, told the representative, “We were begging the hospital staff for a few breaths for our little girl and to give her oxygen, but they demonstrated criminal negligence and, upon complaining, resorted to violence against my brother in law. I tried to save him, but I, too, was subjected to violence, and they kept a hold on my niece’s body for three hours.”

He stated that Safeer had mistakenly grabbed the doctor by the collar in frustration, but the doctor exerted pressure on the police to file a case against Safeer under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

“I contacted Dr Aamir Iqbal Dhandla, the President of the DSP and Young Doctors Association, and requested his intervention in arranging the girl’s funeral and burial. I expressed concern about how this could be managed without the presence of her father. In response, as a guarantee, they impounded our vehicle and instructed that immediately after the burial, Safeer Hussain would return and surrender himself to us. Afterwards, our vehicle would be released.”

According to employee Hussain, when some hospital staff informed the DSP about the facts, the police officers became more lenient.

A class four employee of DHQ and an eyewitness to the incident, on the condition of anonymity, mentioned that when these people brought the patient to the emergency, the girl struggled to breathe. They placed her stretcher in front of the doctor’s room. Safeer entered the emergency and asked Dr Ahsan to see the patient urgently. However, Dr. Ahsan did not get up from his chair, prompting Safeer Shah to grab him in frustration.

According to the employee, none of the doctors or hospital staff in the emergency hall were involved in the violence against Safeer. The doctors who arrived later from the hostel did it. A deputy medical superintendent from a big landlord family of Bhakkhar was also involved.

Chaudhry Naveed Yunus, a local journalist and social media activist, mentions that after gathering information on his own, he raised his voice on social media to favour this family. Citizens on this platform also started demanding immediate, transparent inquiries and action against Dr Ahsan and the hospital. Within a day, a protest movement began on social media.

The Young Doctors Association (YDA) responded by sharing images of the mentioned doctor’s injuries on their social media page. These images showed bandages on his hands and head. However, social media users shared other images after the incident that did not display any injuries to Dr Ahsan.

Naveed Yunus stated that considering the seriousness of the situation, Deputy Commissioner Dr Noor Muhammad initiated an inquiry committee three days later to investigate the matter. In this respect, when DSP Malik Mazhar Hussain Noon was contacted to obtain information, he mentioned that he was a member of the inquiry committee and could not comment.