The haunting memoirs of a forensic specialist: Stories the dead could not tell

KARACHI: In a chilling reflection on a career spanning decades and thousands of post-mortems, Dr. Rohina Hasan, a renowned forensic specialist and retired police surgeon, shares the stories that the dead left behind.

From the “point-blank” brutality of the Safoora Goth massacre to the stomach-churning reality of family abuse and domestic revenge, her testimony serves as a stark reminder of the resilience required to seek truth in a broken system.

Dr. Hasan begins by addressing the sheer volume of her work. “I cannot even give you a count,” she says, noting that her autopsies reach well into the thousands. In a country where many feel justice is elusive, she made a personal pact: “Whatever I write and whatever I speak will be the absolute truth.”

Ashura Tragedy

Recalling the 10th Muharram blast on M.A. Jinnah Road, she describes a scene of utter carnage. She remembers a woman lying among the debris with a piece of bread (roti) resting on her chest. “When I moved the bread, there was a massive hole through her chest. There was nothing left.”

The Liaquatabad Case

One of the most psychologically taxing cases involved a father in Liaquatabad who systematically abused his three daughters. When the eldest became pregnant, the father attempted to gaslight the investigators, claiming his daughters were “characterless” and lying to spite him.

“We conducted a DNA test using amniotic fluid from the baby and matched it with the father’s blood. That proved he was the culprit,” Dr. Rohina Hasan notes.

The Fall of Asma Nawab

Dr. Hasan performed the autopsy on the mother of Asma Nawab, a girl who made headlines for the cold-blooded murder of her parents and brother. Rohin Hasan recalls confronting the then-16-year-old girl: “If you wanted to marry that man, you could have just left. Why did you do this?”

Twenty years later, Dr. Hasan saw Asma being released from prison—no longer a child, but a woman with graying hair, the weight of two decades in a cell visible on her face.

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The Case of Fauzia

A young girl named Fauzia was brought to Civil Hospital in septic shock. While the family thought she had a fever, Dr. Rohina Hasan discovered a horrific reality of torture and sodomy at the hands of her brother-in-law. Despite the culprit shaving his beard and changing his appearance to avoid being identified by the child in court, Dr. Hasan’s forensic evidence ensured a 14-year prison sentence.

“She Cooked Him”

In one of the most macabre stories of her career, Dr. Hasan describes a woman who killed and dismembered her husband after he cast a “bad eye” on her daughter from a previous marriage.

“I saw the body parts in large pots (deghchas). She had literally cooked him,” she says. When asked why, the woman calmly replied: “He deserved this. If something worse could have happened to him, I would have been happy.”

High-Society Horrors and the Safoora Goth Massacre

Abuse knows no class, as Dr. Rohina Hasan recounts a case of a high-ranking banker abusing his daughter. Despite immense pressure and verbal abuse from defense lawyers in court, the forensic evidence held, and the man was proven guilty.

Turning to the Safoora Goth massacre, Dr. Hasan recounts the testimony of a young survivor who hid under a seat as militants executed passengers at point-blank range.

“The girl told me her father pushed her toward the window and covered her with a shawl so she wouldn’t be seen. She sat there in silence as her father’s blood dripped onto her.”

The “Judgment Day” at I.I. Chundrigar Road

Describing a suicide bombing at a mosque/Imambargah, Dr. Hasan recalls a man walking toward her, his clothes blown off and his skin charred. “He looked at me and said, ‘Judgment Day has come,’ before collapsing.” The hospital was so overwhelmed that victims were treated on the floor just to maintain IV lines.

The Baldia Town Factory Fire

The segment concludes with the Baldia Town factory fire, where bodies were so badly burned they had turned to “charcoal.” Dr. Rohina Hasan describes the agonizing process of trying to extract live tissue from charred bone to conduct DNA testing, a long and grueling effort to return remains to the correct grieving families.

Dr. Rohina Hasan’s career is a testament to the heavy burden carried by forensic professionals in Pakistan. Through her eyes, we see a society struggling with deep-seated violence, but also the vital importance of a “truth-teller” who refuses to let the dead remain silent.