Veiled ‘nurse’ at Civil hospital kidnaps baby

A veiled woman kidnaps a baby boy three hours after he was born at Civil Hospital, Karachi.

KARACHI: A veiled woman kidnapped a baby boy three hours after he was born at Civil Hospital, Karachi on Tuesday morning. The boy was being looked after his mother’s relative, Parveen, who did not think twice before handing over the baby to a woman in a burqa who was pretending to be a nurse. “The baby needs to be vaccinated,” she told Parveen and took the child away.

Twenty-two-year-old Jamila, wife of Ghulam Fareed, gave birth to a boy at the hospital around 5 am on Tuesday. A resident of Madina Colony in Hub, Balochistan, the young woman had been brought to the hospital two days ago.

She fell asleep soon after the delivery, handing over her boy to her relative. They were all in the gynaecology ward when the woman came up to Parveen.

When the veiled woman did not return for several hours, Parveen finally panicked and alerted others. A frantic search by family and hospital staff proved futile and it was discovered that the baby had been kidnapped.

Ghulam and Jamila were married a year-and-a-half ago. They were relatives and both hailed from Larkana. They were living in Karachi but had then moved to Hub because of Fareed’s job. At present, Fareed is working in a factory.

Fareed said he took his wife to several hospitals in Hub but he did not have enough money for an operation. Finally he brought her to Karachi. “I would have never come if I’d known this would happen,” he said. He appealed for help.

An FIR, No. 80/11, was filed under Section 64-A at the Eidgah police station on his complaint against an unidentified woman.

Police said they have some leads and they are questioning the gynaecology ward’s staff.

Investigation Officer Inspector Hussain Shah told The Express Tribune that they will also question the suspects who were involved in similar kidnapping cases. “We will find the baby soon,” he promised.

Hospital officials said the woman who kidnapped the baby had not been wearing a uniform. “People should inquire before handing over their babies to someone,” a staff member said, requesting anonymity. The official added that the entire staff is being interrogated but till now, nobody seems to be involved. In previous cases, it had always been an outsider rather than an employee of the hospital who was implicated.

Other cases

This is not the first time a baby has been kidnapped from a hospital. In the last six months, two newborns were kidnapped from the CHK. They were both found by the police and at least five suspects, including a woman, were arrested.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2^nd, 2011.