PAKISTAN’S history is replete with unresolved high-profile assassinations—from Liaquat Ali Khan to Benazir Bhutto—where victims never received justice.
The latest tragic case of Humaira Asghar Ali, a well-known celebrity, has again exposed the glaring flaws in the country’s criminal justice system. Her decomposed and skeletonized body was discovered under mysterious circumstances, nearly one months after her death. While media outlets focus on the moral and societal implications, the real issue remains unaddressed: the urgent need to reform Pakistan’s medico-legal and forensic systems.
Pakistan lacks a dedicated, specialized medico-legal infrastructure within its tertiary care hospitals. In Humaira Asghar’s case, no board of qualified forensic specialists was formed to conduct the postmortem. Without this, vital scientific determinations such as the cause, manner and time of death remain unknown. In forensic science, accurate timing and cause of death are central to criminal investigations, relying on meticulous scene analysis, proper sample collection and preservation techniques—all of which were absent in this case.
Given Pakistan’s climate, it can take weeks to months for a body to decompose to a skeletonized state. That no accurate timeline could be established for Humaira Asghar’s death further illustrates institutional failure. These shortcomings highlight the essential roles of the judiciary, law enforcement and healthcare in a functioning criminal justice system, especially regarding forensic matters.
For years, these deficiencies have been acknowledged. In 2014, Senator Farhatullah Babar led a parliamentary body that raised concerns over malpractice in medico-legal departments. Again in 2023, the Islamabad Bar Association petitioned the Islamabad High Court against unqualified doctors conducting medico-legal examinations. They urged that only postgraduates with diplomas in medical jurisprudence should serve as medico-legal officers. Yet reforms remain elusive.
Ideally, every tertiary hospital should house a forensic medicine department equipped with a forensic science laboratory. These units are critical for handling cases of violence, accidents and other unnatural deaths. They conduct autopsies, prepare medico-legal reports (MLRs) and analyze biological evidence such as blood, semen, toxins and poisons—information that is often pivotal in criminal trials.
Humaira Asghar’s unresolved case serves as a wake-up call. Without timely forensic analysis, crucial leads are lost, evidence is contaminated or overlooked and justice remains out of reach. Urban anonymity and rising crime rates further necessitate reliable forensic systems. Every life lost in such unclear circumstances without a proper investigation is a failure of the State’s responsibility to its citizens.
The nation must now demand action. The establishment of forensic medicine departments and laboratories in all tertiary care hospitals is not just a healthcare reform—it is a foundational requirement for delivering justice. If Pakistan is to honour victims like Humaira Asghar and prevent future failures, it must build a criminal justice system rooted in science, professionalism and accountability.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Islamabad.
