Hospital owner, key officials acquitted in Nashwa death case.

Byline: Naeem Sahoutara

KARACHI -- A court has exonerated a private hospital's owner and chairman, vice chairman and executive director of the charges of negligence that allegedly led to the death of Nashwa, a nine-month-old girl.

Darul Sehat Hospital's chairman Amir Waliuddin Chishti, vice chairman Syed Ali Farhan and executive director Shahzad Alam were charged, among several administration and medical staffers, for alleged improper treatment of the infant that led to her death on April 7.

District and sessions' judge (East) Khalid Hussain Shahani pronounced his verdict reserved earlier on the acquittal applications moved by the owner and two key administration officials of the private health facility.

The judge wrote in the order that Section 265-D of the Criminal Procedure Code provided that if after pursuing a police report, or as the case may be, the complaint and all other documents and statements filed by the prosecution, the court was of the opinion that there was ground for proceeding with the trial of the accused, it should frame in writing a charge against the accused.

The judge further wrote that from the perusal of the present case it transpired that after the usual investigation, a report was filed against Sobia and Moiz by placing their names in Column 2 of the charge sheet. However, the judicial magistrate concerned being not satisfied with the report took cognizance against the accused persons.

The nine-month-old girl had died allegedly because of the suspects' negligence

Referring to the contents of the FIR, the judge noted that due to the negligent act of the accused nursing staffers, Sobia and Moiz, the KCL injection was administered directly through vein to the baby instead of through a drip. As a result, baby Nashwa turned blue and suffered from breathlessness. She was shifted to the intensive care unit (ICU) after being given CPR for 45 minutes, kept on the ventilator and subsequently was removed from it on April 12. Thereafter she became paralysed and finally expired, he added.

Judge Shahani wrote that he was convinced by the arguments advanced by defence counsel Shaukat Hayat that the suspects - Mr Chishti, Mr Farhan and Mr Alam - were victims of the media, as the matter made headlines in the electronic media, or else during the investigation, no cogent evidence was found against them with regard to negligence.

He added that it was also apparent from the order dated May 28 passed by the judicial magistrate taking...