ISLAMABAD: The administration of a private hospital on Thursday claimed that it had not refused treatment to Amal Umer – a 10-year-old girl – who lost her life after being hit by a bullet on the eve of Independence Day. A representative of the National Medical Centre (NMC) and Amal’s parents – Umer and Beenish – were present in court. A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar was hearing the case. As the hearing went underway, a representative of the NMC told the court that the hospital was treating Amal but her parents wanted to shift Amal to another medical facility. However, Amal’s parents maintained their earlier stance that the hospital had refused to treat their child. Declaring the hospital’s statement a ‘pack of lies’ the deceased child’s father said: “The hospital administration insisted that we shift Amal to another medical facility. When we requested the hospital to let us borrow its staff and artificial respiration equipment, it refused to do so.” Expressing his anger at false claims of the hospital, the chief justice admonished the NMC representative. “You are a doctor, why do you need to lie?” Justice Nisar remarked. The court then ordered formation of the committee headed by former Sindh High Court Judge Khilji Arif Hussain. He was picked by the top judge to lead the probe. Further, it summoned a report on the matter within two weeks and adjourned the hearing. The committee will include former Sindh inspector general AD Khawaja and a member of the district bar. Amal succumbed to her injuries after a policeman fired a bullet attempting to kill a robber, who had robbed her family a few minutes earlier. She was rushed to the NMC. But, according to her father, the hospital instead of giving immediate treatment asked him to take his child to Jinnah hospital as she ‘did not have much time’ and it was ‘a medico-legal case.’ The hospital initially did not even help them arrange an ambulance, her mother added. By the time an ambulance reached the family and took the injured child to Jinnah Hospital it was too late. Amal had lost the battle for her life by then. Published in Daily Times, September 28th 2018.