Child abduction case: When the going gets tough, the tough go home

Four top PIMS staffers go on leave amid inquiry, Senator promises to raise case on Senate floor.

ISLAMABAD: Four top officials of the capital’s largest public hospital have gone on leave at a time when an inquiry into the theft of a newborn from the facility is at a critical stage. 

Relatives of the baby have appealed the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo moto notice and demanded that the government suspend any Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) staffers guilty of negligence or direct involvement in the crime.

On the other hand, Senator Zahid Khan, who was at Pims on Tuesday to express solidarity with the family, expressed anger at the absence of senior hospital staff at a time when the child’s family is suffering and has been protesting outside the Maternal Neonatal Child Health (MCH) department for the past week.

A Pims official speaking on the condition of anonymity told The Express Tribune that first the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABU) Pims Vice-Chancellor (VC) Prof Javed Akram went on leave, followed by the head of the MCH Centre Zahid Larik, Pims Administrator Dr Altaf Hussain, and Prof Abid Farooqui, who is the head of the committee constituted by the hospital administration to probe the case.

Senator Khan met with the child’s mother, who has refused to leave the hospital till she get her baby back. He said he will take the issue to the Human Rights Committee and also raise the issue on the Senate floor.

“All relevant Pims officials will be called before the human right committee and the Senate,” he said.

Khan told The Express Tribune that after meeting some senior hospital officials, he felt that they were all are trying to cover each other’s negligence.

“When I asked about the issue, they failed to satisfy my queries and kept covering for each other,” he said.

He also expressed disappointment with the police, saying that cops must share the blame.

Meanwhile talking to The Express Tribune, Atiqur Rehman, a maternal uncle of the missing boy, said that after pointing out factual errors in the final inquiry report compiled by the hospital administration, they have made a few amendments in the front page of the report.

“The rest of the report is the same as before and no amendments were made in the conclusions they have drawn out,” he said.

Rehman said that all the senior staff has gone on vacation, leaving the family helpless.

He further said that he went with other relatives to the CADD office to meet the minster, but they were unable to meet him and were turned back by staffers present there.

“I have been trying to call the CADD minister for the last few days but he is not answering my call or even replying to text messages,” he said.

Pims spokesperson Dr Ayesha Ishani said the VC has gone to perform Umrah and Prof Farooqui underwent surgery, while Dr Hussain and Dr Larik were on casual leave.

She made it clear that the hospital administration has fulfilled its responsibility and have handed over the case to the police.

“The hospital cannot do anything as the case is now being investigated by the police,” she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 21^st, 2015.