HYDERABAD: The murder cases of two female medical students at the girls’ hostels of Chandka Medical College, Larkana, took a turn when a report revealed that both were killed by the same person.
Namrata Kumari, a Hindu girl who was a final year student at the Bibi Aseefa Dental College, was found dead in the hostel on September 16, 2019. Her family had rejected reports of her suicide and claimed that she had been murdered. A judicial inquiry was conducted but the committee failed to solve the case but no action had been taken to stop the tragic deaths.
After two years, another body of a medical student, Dr Nosheen Kazmi, was found from the same girls’ hostel in November 2021. Police started an investigation but could not find any clue and requested a judicial inquiry into the student’s killing. Chief justice of Sindh High Court had also ordered a judicial probe into the killing.
The case took a new twist when a newly-released forensic report revealed that both girls were killed by the same person. The report was released by the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) Jamshoro and analysed DNA samples from both crime scenes.
According to the report, the same suspected murdered both girls, Nosheen Kazmi and Nimarta Kumari. Investigation agencies are trying to find the suspect and the cases have become a big challenge for the university administration, police and judicial inquiry committee.
Meanwhile, Sindh Health Minister Dr. Azra Pechuho has ordered an investigation into allegations of serial murder of female students who were said to have committed suicide. In another incident, a medical student at Peoples University of Medical and Health Sciences for Women (PUMHS) in Nawabshah claimed that officials had harassed and tortured her.
Parveen Rind, who was completing her house job in nursing at PUMHS, uploaded a video to social media claiming that three officials had tried to torture and beat her in a locked hostel room. She also alleged that other girls had been murdered at hostels before. In response, the Sindh health minister formed a three-member inquiry committee.
Parveen said three officials had been harassing her since she started her MBBS program. She said the men had finally forced her to comply with their ‘unethical’ commands and blackmailed her by stealing her cell phone. She further claimed that the series of mysterious deaths of medical students at hostels across Sindh, which had previously been ruled suicides, were in fact murders committed by varsity officials.
Nawabshah Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Amir Saood Magsi said that a committee led by City Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sultan Chandio and the Station House Officer (SHO) of the women police station was investigating the medical student’s claims and would submit a report in three days. The University registrar has denied Parveen’s claims, saying that ‘no such incident’ had taken place and that Parveen had become upset after she was asked to shift rooms at the hostel.
It may be mentioned that the murder case of several medical students remains unresolved. Dr Namrata and Dr Nosheen Shah were found dead in their hostel rooms in Chandka Medical College, Larkana A student Naila Rind was also found dead in her hostel room in Sindh University and Dr Asmat Rajput’s committed ‘suicide’ in her home in Sita Road town.
