On March 28, Meera aborted her two to three-month-old pregnancy, the cause of which as mentioned in the case history of the hospital was, ‘Missed Abortion’, which means that the baby had died inside the womb.
When contacted, the hospital director, Dr Shahida Khawaja, admitted that Meera came to hospital for treatment. She mentioned that the ultrasound report conducted by Dr Waseem showed that there was no fetal activity, which means that the foetus was dead. However, it cannot be confirmed that the fetus died of natural causes or any induced action before Meera came to hospital, she added.
Sources revealed that Meera was admitted to hospital under case number 71966 and was scheduled for the operation at the mentioned date. The surgeon designated for this operation was Dr. Nasreen Masoom Syed who, according to Dr Shahida Khwaja, is a visiting professor and uses the hospital facility to treat her patients. All attempts to contact Dr Nasreen failed.
Sources revealed that Meera came to the hospital wearing a shawl as veil. The hospital sources said that she kept her face veiled till she went into the operation theatre.
Sources revealed that in addition to the abortion, filmstar Meera also requested doctors to conduct the DNA test of the aborted child. The reasons for the request could not be confirmed and the reason for it is only known to her.
Abortion is legally permitted in two cases: when the pregnancy is life threatening to the mother, or the child is either biologically impaired or dead. This abortion was done on the basis of the second case where the baby was declared dead inside the womb and the abortion was deemed necessary to assure Meera’s health.
After the hospital authorities, record and witnesses confirmed the incident, Meera was contacted a number of times on her cell phone, which she did not answer. When this correspondent sent a text message on her phone, explaining the nature of the issue that needed her version, she switched her phone off. Later, she called back and asked for the source of the news and pressed that it be not published.
During the course of the conversation, she admitted that she went to that hospital on March 28 but not for an abortion. She denied that she underwent any abortive operation, contending that she flew to Islamabad from Lahore the same night which she couldn’t have had she undergone the operation.
However, to a query if a patient can travel after having undergone abortion of up to three months pregnancy, a noted professor of gynaecology and obstetrics, Dr Arshad Chohan, said that an otherwise healthy patient without any other medical condition involved could travel safely after four hours.
The hospital record also confirms the fact that Meera registered under her maiden name Rubab suffixed by the last name Naveed, which is the name of the US pilot Captain Naveed Parvez, whose engagement with Meera is the talk of the town these days. Registering her name with the US pilot also suggests that Meera wanted to make it a point that the aborted child was Naveed’s.
Captain Naveed Pervaiz was contacted but he could not be reached. When Raja Khalid Pervaiz, Naveed’s father, was contacted and inquired about the reason why Meera used his son’s last name to register when she was not formally married to him as yet, he said that he was shocked to hear all this.
He said that he had already expressed his concern and opposition to this marriage and this act of Meera further substantiates his stance. He said that if at all the child was actually Naveed’s, Meera should have contacted him to have the abortion done in any foreign country with Naveed by her side.
He suspected that as Pakistan was the most convenient country to get an abortion done without the father being there, Meera chose to have this done in this country and pin it on his son. He condemned this act and said that if proven guilty, she should be punished for her act.
The Section 338 of the Pakistan Penal code provides that “Whoever causes a woman with child whose organs have not been formed, to miscarry, if such miscarriage is not caused in good faith for the purpose of saving the life of the woman or providing necessary treatment to her, is said to cause ‘Isqat-i-Haml’ is liable to a punishment of three years imprisonment if the abortion is performed by the woman’s consent otherwise a maximum of 10 years.”
