No clue to newborn 30 hours after abduction

Nurses protest detention of colleagues

RAWALPINDI:

Police have been unable to trace the whereabouts of a day-old newborn who was abducted from the Holy Family Hospital on Sunday. He has now been missing for over 30 hours.

The abducted baby is the newborn son of one Shahid, a resident of Kalar Syedan. He was kidnapped from the nursery under mysterious circumstances and the abductor had replaced him with a doll in his crib.

The police had started investigations as soon as the Medical Superintendent Dr Shazia Zeb had informed them about the child’s disappearance, but so far have uncovered no leads despite a detailed scrutiny of the hospital’s CCTV footage.

A nurse and a staff worker were detained by the hospital administration, upon which the nursing staff of the hospital staged a protest and demanded the release of their colleague Rubina and insisted that an inquiry be conducted against the doctors as well.

Meanwhile, the family of staff worker Farhat Yasmeen also protested against her detention and subsequent questioning by the police.

Police sources said that besides attempting to glean information from the CCTV footage, the police are also busy in their endeavour to make headway in the case with the help of fingerprints.

The nursing staff asserted that the hospital has one staff nurse for every 40 children; hence security is the responsibility of the administration and they were to blame for letting the kidnapper walk out of the premises.

They further claimed that only the CCTV cameras installed in the lobby were in a working condition, while other cameras are not functional.

Vice Chancellor Rawalpindi Medical University Professor Dr Muhammad Omar said that the hospital is fully cooperating with the police and has handed over all evidence to them. He denied the nurses’ accusation and insisted that all the CCTV cameras installed in the hospital are working.

Dr Omar expressed regret over the incident and said that he hopes the police will recover the child soon.

MS Holy Family Hospital Dr Shazia Zeb said that all resources are being utilised for searching the location of the baby, adding that three nurses have been given show cause notice and a five-member inquiry committee is compiling its report.

Meanwhile, PTI National Assembly member Sadaqat Abbasi MPA Raja Sagheer Ahmed also visited Holy Family Hospital and while talking to media said that it was a tragic incident and strict action will be taken against those involved.

On the other hand, relatives of the abducted baby also protested in front of the hospital’s administration block, claiming that the nursing staff’s protest was a ruse to suppress the matter. Shahid, the father of the missing baby, said that his wife was in a poor state after the abduction of her newborn. He appealed to the Prime Minister to take notice of the incident.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2^nd, 2021.