Ghastly trade: Midwife among suspects of infant’s abduction

Father claims the child was sold for Rs120,000.

FAISALABAD:

Police said on Wednesday that a midwife had allegedly sold a newborn in collusion with a doctor from a government hospital and another woman.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, the Mamu Kanjan station house officer (SHO) said Hashim Ali, a resident of Chak 494-GB, had taken his expectant wife, Aasia Bibi, to Kausar Bibi, a midwife.

He said the midwife had called Amjad, a doctor from Mureedwala Government Hospital, to operate on the woman. The SHO said they had allegedly sold the infant with the help of Nooran Bibi and had told the parents that the baby had been stillborn and that the body had been thrown away.

He said the parents had suspected foul play and had approached police to register a case against them. The SHO said police had started investigations but no arrests had been made so far.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Hashim Ali said clinic staff had congratulated him after they learnt that his wife had given birth to a boy and had told him that the mother and the child were in stable condition.

He alleged that Amjad, Kausar and Nooran had later abducted the infant and sold him to a couple in Sahiwal. Hashim said he had asked Kausar to show the baby to his wife when she had regained consciousness but the midwife had said the baby was stillborn and the body had been thrown in a canal.

Hashim said a worker at the clinic had told him that the baby had been abducted and sold him in Sahiwal for Rs120,000. Hashim said they had threatened him with dire consequences when he pressed for the recovery of the newborn.

He appealed to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khwaja Imtiaz Ahmed and officials of law enforcement agencies to take action against the suspects and recover the abducted infant.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 21^st, 2014.