Probe ordered into newborn extortion claim

The Islamabad District and Sessions Court on Thursday intervened in a harrowing child custody dispute at a public hospital, following allegations that a senior staff member withheld a newborn baby from its mother in an attempt to extort Rs500,000.

The case was brought before Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Ali Waraich after the child's grandmother, Nasreen Bibi, filed an emergency petition through her legal counsel, Mehtab Abbasi.

The petitioner alleged that despite the completion of all formal medical and administrative requirements, the gynaecology department at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) has unlawfully kept the infant in its custody.

According to the petition, the infant was delivered at the facility by Mehnaz Bibi. The family claimed that a head nurse at PIMS explicitly demanded Rs500,000 for the release of the newborn, warning that the child would not be handed over to the mother unless the sum was paid in full. Furthermore, the applicant asserted that the family faced threats that the infant would be transferred to unidentified individuals if they failed to comply with the extortion demand.

Citing severe administrative negligence and criminal intimidation, the family requested the court's urgent intervention to order the immediate recovery and transfer of the newborn to the mother, arguing there was no legal justification to continue withholding the child.

Taking swift action, Judge Waraich directed the Islamabad Police to immediately dispatch officers to the hospital to investigate the matter.