K-P police arrest female gang involved in kidnapping, selling newborn children

Gang consisted of female doctors and nurses who stole children at the time of birth

PESHAWAR: Police officials on Friday arrested a gang of at least five women who were allegedly involved in the kidnapping and selling of newborn children from hospitals and maternity homes across Peshawar.

"The gang consisted of female doctors and nurses working in various government hospitals," an official statement released by the police read.



The statement further added that while police officials managed to recover one newborn, the gang had already kidnapped and sold nine newborns.

As a result of the kidnappings, SSP Operations Abbas Majeed Khan Marwat formed a team led by SP Cantt Kashif Zulfiqar to carry out search operations and arrest the gang members.

PHOTO: EXPRESS

"Following the orders of SP Zulfiqar, based on a tip-off, SHO East Inspector Malik Habib arrested a woman identified as Wajeeha Yasmee alias Jia," the statement added.

"During interrogation, Jia confessed that she has made a deal with Nadir Shah to deliver him a baby for Rs300,000. Until the deal is through, the child has been handed over to a woman named Musarrat to take care of."



According to police officials, Jia also revealed the names of other gang members during investigation. Two men are also said to be involved who helped the women kidnap and sell children.

"The gang would take away the children and handover dead babies to parents. The kidnapped newborns were then sold for various prices ranging from Rs70,000 to Rs300,000," police claimed.

Children being stolen at the time of birth from hospitals is a fairly frequent brutal reality. Several such cases have been reported in the past where parents alleged that their newborns were kidnapped at the time of birth.

In January last year, a baby boy was allegedly kidnapped from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), Islamabad before the parents could even get a proper look at their loved one.



After the incident, a tussle between the hospital administration and the parents took place as both were holding each other responsible for the incident. The relatives of the baby have demanded the police to recover the child within 24 hours otherwise they would block all main roads of the capital.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Shazia Zia, the boy’s mother, said “It happened because of the security lapse. It is the prime responsibility of the hospital administration to keep a strict check over who is coming in or going out from the ward.”