Lahore:
A woman doctor was dismissed from service in Pakistan’s Punjab province for conducting a virginity test on a minor rape victim despite a ban on the practice.
Dr Aliza Gill’s service was terminated on Tuesday by the Punjab government.
The Lahore High Court in 2020 banned the two-finger test in rape examinations. The court had called the virginity test “humiliating and having no forensic value”.
“Under no circumstances, the test can be performed or documented in the medicolegal report,” LHC Justice Farooq Haider said during the hearing on Tuesday. Despite a ban, he also expressed concern over the practice of the test at the hospitals.
The judge noted how doctors are issuing medical certificates against the law. “This is a very serious matter and should not go unnoticed,” he said.
The Punjab government told the court that it terminated the services of Dr Gill for performing the test on the minor rape victim.
The government said in light of the court judgement directions have been issued to doctors across the province regarding the medicolegal examination of female victims of sexual assaults that the virginity test must not be performed or documented in the medicolegal report.
The government’s counsel Raj Maqsood, told the court, that the Surgeon Medical Officer of Punjab has also recommended forming a new medical board for the victim’s examination.
The judge adjourned the hearing till Thursday.
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