KARACHI:Renowned expert in forensic medicine Professor Farhat Baig Mirza, Professor of Forensic Medicine at Jinnah Sindh Medical University, passed away on Thursday in a tragic fire accident along with another four people in his household.
According to Jinnah Sindh Medical University (JSMU), Professor Mirza (1951-2021) was among the senior and most respected professors in Pakistan.
Professor Mirza served as the Chairman of the Department of Forensic Medicine at the JSMU.
Under his leadership, the department received full accreditation from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan for FCPS Part II Training in Forensic Medicine making it the only place in Sindh province for conducting FCPS part II Training at that time.
Under him, the department conducted classes for the Sindh Judicial Academy and Dada Bhai Institute of Post Graduate Studies for students doing LLM and PhDs in addition to teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students of JSMU.
The recently constructed JSMU Mortuary was also a successful project under the leadership of Dr Farhat Mirza.
Earlier, he worked as the Head of Forensic Medicine Department at Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical College, and at Dow University of Health Sciences where he served for 37 years.
Professor Farhat Baig Mirza also served as the Chairman of Medicolegal Reforms Committee of Sindh, constituted by the Government of Sindh, Health Department.
He chaired the Exhumation Boards, Custodial Deaths Boards and served as the forensic expert for Government of Sindh, Health Department in Special Medical Boards at Sindh Government Services Hospital, dealing with cases from the whole of Sindh.
Professor Baig had also been the subject expert for the Sindh Health Care Commission and also a member of the committee formed by Health Department, Government of Sindh for establishing the DNA laboratory in the province.
‘Presently he was supervising JSMU students for fellowship in forensic medicine and used to conduct classes thrice a week. He was one of our senior most academicians,’ said Principal Sindh Medical College-JSMU Professor Ghulam Sarwar Qureshi.
“Our JSMU community owed a lot to Dr Farhat. I would like to join in the chorus of condolences to Professor Farhat and thanked him for his years of service to the University and the province of Sindh,” said Acting Vice Chancellor Professor Shahid Rasul.