GUJRAT: A woman was allegedly poisoned to death by her husband and his brother over a domestic dispute on Saturday.

The local medical fraternity protested at Aziz Bhatti Shaheed Teaching Hospital (ABSTH) against what they called the killing of the woman, who was a gynaecologist at the hospital.

The suspect was said to be a manager at a shoe factory located along GT Road. No arrests had been made and it was also said that the couple’s two children were with the suspect.

Dr Shagufta Naz of Taxila, Rawalpindi, got married to Ahsan Rasheed of Chashma Barrage, Mianwali district, around seven years ago and they were settled in Gujrat.

Muhammad Latif, the father of Shagufta, told the Civil Lines police in a case he filed that his daughter had complained of harsh behaviour of her husband and quarrels between the two for the last few weeks, and that she had also lodged a written complaint with local police.

Latif claimed that on March 23, Ahsan and his brother Hasan Rasheed, who lived with the couple in the same house, mixed poison in his daughter’s breakfast.

She called her brother and asked him to reach Gujrat after which she was shifted to hospital where she died on Saturday.

Police registered a case against the brothers under sections 302 and 34 of Pakistan Penal Code and started investigation.

The body of Shagufta was handed over to her family after autopsy at the ABSTH.

The local chapter of the Pakistan Medical Association lodged a protest against the incident and demanded arrest of the culprits.

MONITORING: Various officers of the district administration have been tasked with monitoring provision of medical facilities to patients at ABSTH throughout the week.

Each officer has been given a particular day of the week for inspection.

According to a notification issued by Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Ali Randhawa, on the directions of the Punjab government, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Revenue Syed Wasif Rehman was assigned the duty for Monday, ADC (Finance and Planning) Saadia Mehar Tuesday, Assistant Commissioner Zaheer Abbas Chattha Wednesday, District Monitoring Officer Waqar Hussain Khan Thursday, Chief Executive Officer (Health) Dr Abid Ghauri Friday and Deputy Director (Development) Ahmed Jawad Saturday for inspecting the hospital at any time of the day.

These officers will also note their comments on the inspection register after visiting the hospital.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2017