Expose: Two cruel killings, one controversial JMO

This is the fate of an entire nation where the cruellest corruption rules over us all 

By A Special Correspondent

Two sad cases show the cruel suffering of the Sri Lankan people these days, and how no one is safe. One is the case of the child Hamdi Fazlim, who died at Lady Ridgeway Hospital this August, and the second is that of businessman Dinesh Schaffter who was murdered last December. What is most curious is that these cases were both handled by the same Judicial Medical Officer (JMO). Both cases passed through the hands of one Dr. Ruhul Haq, and upon both cases he has left highly controversial marks.

In the first case of little Hamdi, a beloved baby had difficulty urinating and the parents went to the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for help. They were told that one of the child’s kidneys needed to be removed. This in itself appears unusual as a kidney is generally removed only in extreme cases, such as when cancer is present.

After the surgery, the child’s health did not improve and only after asking the doctor, Nalin Wijekoon, did he tell them that in fact he had removed both kidneys. A problem had thus been made a catastrophe. The poor child suffered under daily dialysis and blood transfusions before he eventually died, in July 2023. However, the police told the court that only one kidney was in the hospital’s possession. At this point Dr. Haq was called to make a report, despite being under suspension.

In both of these sensitive cases, any common-sense observer can see the grave miscarriage of justice. Two kidneys become one and murder becomes suicide. A poor family seeking medical help for their young child’s one malfunctioning kidney has the other good kidney stolen, and then its very existence deleted. A businessman about to fly to London with his family suddenly decides to kill himself, in the most traumatic and public way possible just hours before his flight. This is the scale of ‘contradiction’ people are expected to believe, based on the opinion of a JMO under suspension

Dr. Haq issued a postmortem report making the problem go away by simply stating that the child only had one kidney. This report, however, contradicted all the scans and tests conducted by Asiri Surgical Hospital and Lady Ridgeway Hospital, which clearly showed two kidneys, one of them healthy. This was attested to by Dr. Malik Samarasinghe in court as well as by the Director of Lady Ridgeway Hospital in a media briefing. In light of these glaring contradictions, according to a daily newspaper, “Additional Magistrate Jayasuriya then ordered the Police investigate the matter without entirely basing it on the JMO’s report, as the reports of the relevant JMO are problematic.” The question is really why anything is based on this JMO’s report, when he should not be practicing at all.

This is actually a pattern with Dr. Haq. Introducing absurd ‘contradictions’ seems to be his speciality, according to insiders. In 2007, for example, a student was killed at protests. Dr. Haq came in to say that the young man died of an ‘internal haemorrhage due to abnormality in a blood vessel’ (as reported by a Sunday paper). Dr. Haq said there was ‘no evidence of violence,’ the young man just coincidentally dropped dead of an undiagnosed medical problem at the very same moment that the police were assaulting him. Two other cases have also been reported: the death of a five-year-old girl at a private hospital in Colombo in 2013, and a worker’s death due to suspected food poisoning at the Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in 2014. In this context, the two sad cases we are discussing become part of a very disturbing pattern.

In the case of Dinesh Schaffter, the businessman was found unconscious in his vehicle in circumstances utterly inconsistent with a suicide. Subsequently, the DNA of two unidentified people was found on the materials used to kill him. According to his lawyers, there were also unexplained injuries on Dinesh Schaffter’s body. Dr. Haq’s own initial report from 16 December stated that the cause of death was “ligature strangulation” confirming that Schaffter had been murdered.

However, in January while Haq was under suspension for ethics violations he completely revised his story to say that Dinesh Schaffter had consumed cyanide and committed suicide, while trying to make it ‘look’ like a murder. His postmortem report stated that Schaffter’s death was due to cyanide poisoning. All the physical evidence including the strangulation and the injuries on the victim’s body were ignored.

This did not ‘look’ right to the Magistrate Rajinda Jayasuriya, who happens to be hearing both the Schaffter and Fazlim cases. She ordered a panel to look into the contradictions that Dr. Haq had introduced into the case. That panel has exhumed Schaffter’s body and now spent over four months without reaching a decision, leaving the family without a place to mourn.

Schaffter was the victim of a financial fraud. It appears that at the time of his death he was pursuing justice through the courts in an attempt to recover the money owed to him. Where is the stolen money? Instead of investigating these matters, the investigation into Schaffter’s death was shut down before it even began. And Dr. Haq found himself where he so often finds himself, introducing ‘contradictions’ into controversial cases, to make them disappear.

Haq has been suspended by the Professional Conduct Committee of the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) since 20 December 2022. Both of his controversial reports have been issued while he has been explicitly barred by the SLMC “from exercising his rights, privileges, and immunities conferred upon him by registration as a Medical Practitioner.” Those reports should be inadmissible, but he has somehow found himself at the centre of two of the most prominent cases in the country.

Dr. Haq was, in fact, supposed to be transferred out of Colombo entirely with effect from 21 January 2022. He should not have been working in Colombo at all, and it is a mystery how his reports are even admissible. But there is obviously influence at play.

According to sources, the fact that Haq has continued working after being transferred has messed up the transfer process of all JMOs. There are obviously higher powers interfering here, people above the law who are breaking it in the most reprehensible manner imaginable. 

Schaffter was the victim of a financial fraud. It appears that at the time of his death he was pursuing justice through the courts in an attempt to recover the money owed to him. Where is the stolen money? Instead of investigating these matters, the investigation into Schaffter’s death was shut down before it even began. And Dr. Haq found himself where he so often finds himself, introducing ‘contradictions’ into controversial cases, to make them disappear

In both of these sensitive cases, any common-sense observer can see the grave miscarriage of justice. Two kidneys become one and murder becomes suicide. A poor family seeking medical help for their young child’s one malfunctioning kidney has the other good kidney stolen, and then its very existence deleted. A businessman about to fly to London with his family suddenly decides to kill himself, in the most traumatic and public way possible just hours before his flight. This is the scale of ‘contradiction’ people are expected to believe, based on the opinion of a JMO under suspension.

It appears Dr. Haq is merely the face of huge institutional failures, of the failure of a Government, of an entire country. For the people in power these are not failures, these are the systems working as intended, for their nefarious purposes. The message they send to the public is clear. Anyone can be killed in broad daylight. Any child can have their organs taken. Not only will these crimes not be investigated, they will be covered up, in the most brazen way imaginable. No one is safe in this country under the cruel machinations of those who pull the strings, introducing ‘contradictions’ that tie the legal system in knots. That’s what these two sad cases show. The injustice, the impunity, and the sheer tragedy of these two cases is not just the fate of two people. This is the fate of an entire nation where the cruellest corruption rules over us all.