Two newborns allegedly swapped at BBH

Families await DNA results to confirm identities

RAWALPINDI:

Two newborns were allegedly swapped at Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) due to the apparent negligence of hospital staff.

A dispute broke out between the children's families once the incident came to light.

Police sources told The Express Tribune that two days ago, two babies were born in the labour room of Benazir Bhutto Hospital.

When their babies were handed over to them, the parents pointed out that the newborns might have been swapped. However, the staff claimed that the parents were lying and that the newborns were handed over to their respective parents.

The hospital authorities immediately called Waris Khan Police to intervene and to thoroughly investigate the matter.

The hospital’s CCTV was thoroughly reviewed; however, no conclusive evidence was found.

According to sources, since there was no other way to confirm the identities of the newborns, the police decided to collect samples from both parents and the newborns to perform genetic testing.

Moreover, the children have been taken into government custody and are kept in the hospital nursery until the DNA test results arrive. Once the reports come in, the newborns will be handed over to their respective parents on the basis of the results.

Since the case is sensitive in nature, the parents’ identities have been kept confidential. The hospital administration has also formed a five-member committee to investigate the incident, and in casethe staff’s carelessness is proven, strict action would be taken against those involved.

Last month, three-month-old Musa Aftab was kidnapped from the OPD of the Benazir Bhutto Hospital after his mother, Saima Noreen, handed over him to her 10-year-old daughter Ayesha Fatima before she went for a check-up.

Malik Aftab, the father of the kidnapped child, had said that after his wife came out after her check-up, she found her son missing and their daughter said that a woman took the baby with her and disappeared.

The police, with the help of intelligence agencies, raided a house in the Morgah area and safely recovered the child and arrested the woman along with her partner. The child was handed over to his parents.

Earlier, BBH Medical Superintendent Dr Sohail Ahmed Chaudhry said that he had constituted a fact-finding committee, which said that the kidnapping of the child did not prove any negligence on the part of the hospital administration.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2022.