When healers become victims

By Sassi Nasir Ali

You would never think , that a dangerous person or threat would come after you in a hospital , because hospitals are supposed to be safe places . It’s where wounded come to heal .
Doctors are the only one who shows up when no one else will .
The recent case of Dr. Mahnoor Nasir, shows how doctors are no longer safe . The very people who spend their lives saving others are now the ones left unprotected .
On June 6 2026, Friday, 12:30 pm , Dr Mahnoor, a postgraduate trainee in general surgery, at civil hospital Quetta, opened the door of her room in the surgery ward , A man knocked on the door , when she opened the door of her room he threw acid on her face, if she had known what that knock meant she would never have opened the door .
The man who threw acid , was identified as Hamayoun Shah , a contractual lift operator,at the same hospital , not a stranger .
He was from Noushki, a small town in Balochistan .

According to Balochistan health minister bakth Muhammad Kakar , investigators found , evidence of months of harassment , on Hamayoun Shah phone messages. Attempted to force a relationship . An obsession that Dr Mahnoor never encouraged and never reported .
She did not report it because she knew the cost. In Pakistan if a woman speaks up about harassment does not get protection . She gets questions about her character , her conduct her choices . She stayed silent , she did her job , she hoped it would pass , but it did not .
Hospital sources said around 70% of her body was affected . She suffered severe burn injuries to her face , chest , legs , and other parts of her body . She was shifted to a private hospital immediately after initial treatment at Civil hospital , and later transferred to Karachi Aga Khan hospital via air ambulance . The Chief Minister of Balochistan , Sarfraz Bugti promised the government would pay for everything.

The medical examination at Aga Khan University hospital in Karachi confirmd 13% burns . Both eyes were impacted , but her eyesight remains intact. Her vital organs are safe . She is stable and under specialist care in the hospital’s special care unit . A young man who attempted to save Dr. Mahnoor during the attack was also injured and remains under treatment in Quetta .

Police tracked Hamayoun Shah , down near Quetta’s inter-city bus terminal after a district wide manhunt. They asked him to surrender , but instead he opened the firing.
The police retaliated,and in the exchange of fire he was killed .
“The accused was killed in a police encounter while attempting to escape from the Quetta bus ” DIG Quetta Imran Shaukat said .
The Chief Minister called it a “logical end”
Case closed. Justice served . Move on .

But the investigation continues . Police are now questioning hospital employees and close acquaintances of the attacker to determine the real motive and whether others were involved.

Balochistan Governor Jaffar Khan Mandokhail telephoned Dr. Mahnoor’s father , Habibullah Nasir, offers arrangements for specialized treatment and plastic surgery aboard. The provincial government is bearing all expenses from day one .
Meanwhile , the Young Doctors Association has continued its strike across all government hospitals in Quetta . Boycotting outpatient departments and establishing a protest camp on the hospital premises . They demand enhanced workplace security , not promises .

If I speak from a personal perspective, this incident left me deeply disturbed . Growing up in Balochistan , I always believed this kind of horrific acts would never happen here , these are the stories of somewhere else like India ,Bangladesh , or any other country.
But when I read about Dr Mahnoor , I felt terrified . This is not somewhere else , this is Quetta , our own place .
This incident has created fear among women and families across Balochistan . Parents who encourage their daughters to pursue education and professional careers now worry about their daughters safety.
If a doctor is not safe in her own workplace , then who is ? Today the victim was a Dr Mahnoor , tomorrow it could be another doctor, teacher , an engineer a student or any other women.
If decisive action is not taken , many families may hesitate to allow their daughters to study , work , to pursue their ambitions .

The case is closed. The suspect is dead. But the questions but raises about the safety of women in Pakistan’s workplaces remain unanswered. Violence against women in Pakistan is not a minor issue . It is structural, sustained and statistically enormous.

The Aurate Foundation documented at least 123 cases of violence against women in Balochistan in 2025 including 33 honour killings. These figures only represent reported incidents. The actual numbers are significantly higher .
The province’s record on women’s rights is particularly weak . The World Economic Forum’s Global Gap Report 2024 ranked Pakistan 143rd out of 146 countries in economic participation and opportunity.
In Balochistan the civilian labor force participation rate for women stands at just 5.5% . Only 3.5% of employed women earn more than RS. 15,00l monthly , compared to 67.3% of men . 75% of employed women work without pay , primarily in family agriculture.
Women hold only 14.8% of bank accounts in the province and less than 5% of non-agricultural jobs .
These figures are not abstractions . They describe the environment in which a woman like Dr Mahnoor chooses to work .

A 2023 study in the Pakistan Journal of medical Science found no formal complaint channels for harassment in most government hospitals. The options were silence , transfer or resignation. Dr. Mahnoor chose silence. It did not protect her .
In a province where only 2.66% of police officers are women , most survivors never walk into a station at all .
Acid violence has a long history in Pakistan. The Acid Survivors Foundation estimates approximately 200 attacks annually , 80% to 90% targeting women .
The face is the primary target by design , in our society , a woman’s face is her currency , her marriageability , her family’s honor , her identity. To destroy it , to destroy her future.

The UNFPA says one in three Pakistani women experiences gander based violence . Over half never report it . The silence is not accidental . It is engineered by a society where speaking out costs more than the crime .
Balochistan needs women in its police and judicial system in numbers that matter . It needs a safe reporting mechanism in workplaces , especially hospitals and schools . It needs security that actually protects female staff .
Dr. Mahnoor will heal . Her scars will not . Neither will the fear she left behind in every hospital in Quetta . The state can pay for her surgery . It cannot pay back her trust.
We don’t want to read about another Mahnoor .

The government of Pakistan and Balochistan just treat this matter with the seriousness it deserves. Every woman has the right to love , study and work without fear .