The 23 public medical colleges in the country currently have only two specialised female forensic doctors for treating rape victims.
Although a High Court order on the examination of rape victims prompted the health directorate to post female doctors in the forensic departments of medical colleges a year ago, none of those doctors reportedly had any specialised training on forensic medicine.
The only two doctors in the country who have specialised diplomas in forensic medicine are Dr Momtaz Ara and Dr Aliza Ali of Dhaka Medical College and Sir Salimullah Medical College, respectively.
Professor Dr Habibuzzaman Chowdhury, head of forensic medicine department of the DMC, told the Dhaka Tribune that the public medical colleges face a shortage of both male and female forensic medicine doctors.
Admitting that only two female teachers currently have specialised forensic diplomas, Dr Habibuzzaman said neither male nor female doctors are interested in pursuing degrees in forensics.
Most medical colleges lack the adequate, trained manpower, the doctor said, adding that a forensic department should ideally have one professor and one associate professor each, along with two assistant professors and four or five lecturers.
Sources say the forensic departments in the relatively newer medical colleges, including Cox’s Bazar and Satkhira, are run by lecturers, while only three public medical colleges - Dhaka, Sir Salimullah and Rangpur – have three fulltime professors of forensics.
Meanwhile, the chief of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Professor Dr Din Md Nurul Hoque, is set to appear before the High Court today regarding a recent court order that directed him to explain whether its previous order to ensure the appointment of female doctors to examine rape victims and ascertain the age of girls has been fulfilled or not.
Dr Md Shah Newaz, director (administration) of the DGHS, confirmed the news and claimed that the directorate has already posted female doctors as per the High Court’s directive.
Although the DGHS had previously submitted a list of female doctors who were assigned to examine rape victims, the court official concerned did not present it before the judges, Shah Newaz said, adding that the director general would again present the list to the court today.
The Health Ministry has also reportedly drafted a new guideline that, if implemented, will bind police to record a rape victim’s statement within three hours of being approached and hospitals to conduct medical examinations without police reports.
The draft quashes the “two-finger test,” traditionally used by doctors to find out whether someone was really raped or not. The guideline labels the test “unscientific” and “horrendous.”
DMC Professor Dr Habibuzzaman, who heads the sub-committee for preparing the draft of the new guideline, told the Dhaka Tribune on Thursday that the draft guideline has already been finalised and will be submitted before the ministry soon.
