KARACHI, June 18(ABC): The judicial magistrate (East) in Karachi on Saturday approved a petition seeking the autopsy of popular televangelist Aamir Liaquat Hussain who was found dead at his residence earlier this month.
The decision, which was reserved this morning, was taken after hearing arguments from all stakeholders concerned.
In its order, the court said that Liaquat’s family — the “heirs of his grave” — have maintained that conducting the anchorperson’s post-mortem would violate the sanctity of his grave.
But the court said that if the death is suspicious and there is a fear that a crime might be committed, then the law will have to take its courts to dig out the hidden facts.
“The police surgeon has stated that the reason behind the death could not be ascertained through an external examination of the body,” the judicial magistrate said.
The judge noted that to date, it is unclear as to what led to the death of Liaquat. He added that the former member of the National Assembly’s death raises questions about whether his demise was natural or not.
“The court has reached a decision that it is inevitable to conduct the post-mortem to disperse the confusion surrounding the death,” the judicial magistrate said.
The court has ordered the secretary of health to constitute a medical board which will fix a date for the post-mortem, while it directed the station house officer (SHO) of the Brigade police station to head the preparations.
In response, Additional Inspector General of Police (AIG) Karachi Javed Alam Odho said the police is yet to receive the court’s order, but once it does all preparations would be made in this regard.
The Karachi police chief said the family of the deceased did not want the post-mortem to be conducted. “However, we are ready for it.”
A petition was filed in the court of the judicial magistrate (East) earlier this week.
It stated that the sudden death of Aamir Liaquat Hussain has raised suspicions among his fans and it is suspected that he was killed over a property dispute.
The petitioner requested the court to form a special board for the exhumation and autopsy of Hussain, saying that identifying the cause of his death was necessary.