A Hindu medical practitioner, Dr. Sita Kolhi, was fined PKR 44 lakhs (4.4 million) by a model court in Mirpurkhas, Sindh for ‘medical negligence’ after a pregnant Muslim woman in her care miscarried and died.

The penalty has sparked controversy and dissatisfaction among medical professionals in Mirpurkhas, Sindh. They added that doctors work tirelessly to save lives and medical emergencies can sometimes have negative outcomes. Expressing their support for Dr. Kolhi, they praised her years of hard work and dedication to healthcare. They argued that this punishment is unfair and could prevent doctors from attending to critical situations or providing urgent care.

It was also pointed out that when a Hindu patient suffers due to alleged medical malpractice, such compensations are never awarded. In June last year, a newborn was beheaded and the head left inside the mother, Mahuka Bheel’s womb in a govt rural hospital in Sindh. The Hindu woman’s uterus was ruptured since the baby’s head was trapped inside and doctors later had to surgically open her abdomen to remove the head to save her life. No compensation has been received by Mahuka and her family, and it is now known whether she can ever become a mother again.

Despite the present controversy, the decision remains in effect and Dr. Kolhi said she plans to appeal the decision. This is not the first time that Hindu doctors are feeling victimized on account of their religious identity. In the past too, there have been multiple incidents of Hindu doctors being assaulted, even murdered, or their clinics vandalized by ‘dissatisfied’ Muslim patients.

In February, one Dr. Daulat Ram was brutally assaulted in Thatta district of Sindh. In January, Dr. Harchand and his brother were attacked in Mirpur Khas. In June last year, Dr. Chetan Kumar was attacked and his clinic vandalized. In 2020, Dr. Lal Chand Bagari of Tando Allahyar, Sindh was murdered by slitting his throat. In 2019, veterinarian doctor Ramesh Kumar was targeted by Islamists in Mirpur Khas over a trumped up blasphemy charge.

In 2016, Dr. Pritam Das Lakhwani was murdered while seeing patients in his clinic named ‘BISMILLAH CLINIC’ located in Karachi, Sindh. In 2011, 3 Pakistani Hindu doctors – Ashok Kumar, Naresh Kumar and Ajeet Kumar – were gunned down in Chak town, Sindh province on Eid-ul-Adha because one of them had demanded a fee for treating an influential local Muslim.