Lawmakers belonging to Pakistan’s ruling coalition have urged the Shehbaz Sharif government to carry out DNA tests of the dead bodies found on the rooftop of Multan hospital in Punjab province.
Legislators requesting the DNA test, including Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Kishwar Zehra, fear that the corpses could be of people who went missing from Sindh and the erstwhile tribal areas of the country, the Dawn newspaper reported.
Videos of bodies dumped on the Nishtar Hospital’s rooftop rattled Pakistan after it was shared on social media last week. Dozens of mutilated bodies were found on the rooftop of the hospital’s mortuary, the Pakistan newspaper said citing official sources.
Addressing the National Assembly, Zehra and other legislators, endorsed a parliamentary investigation into the matter after seeking a report from the Punjab government.
“Our party demands that DNA tests of all these bodies should be conducted. We are not yet tired of searching for our missing people. God forbid, our people can be [among them],” Zehra was quoted as saying by Dawn.
On October 14, multiple unidentified and decomposing bodies were found lying on the rooftop of the Nishtar hospital’s mortuary. Thereafter, an investigation began following orders from the province’s additional chief secretary to form a six-member committee.
After receiving an initial inquiry report of the incident, the Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi suspended three doctors, three hospital employees, and two police officials posted in the area.
Action will also be taken against those responsible for negligence under Pedda Act. In any case, such treatment of dead bodies is not acceptable. No matter how much this heinous incident is condemned, it is less. In the religion of Islam, the teachings of funeral and burial of dead bodies are very clear,” Elahi tweeted on October 17.
“An inhumane act has been committed by throwing dead bodies on the roof. The desecration of dead bodies is intolerable,” he said in another tweet.
Thousands of people forcibly disappearing is a severe and longstanding issue in Pakistan. Despite efforts by civil society, there is no end to the issue of enforced disappearances in Pakistan, as the State continues to use it with impunity.