Behind bars: Police arrest woman, son for stealing babies

Suspects would charge Rs0.45m for boy, Rs0.35m for girl.

ISLAMABAD: A local magistrate on Monday sent two persons on three-day physical remand for allegedly stealing newborns from hospitals and selling them.

The suspects used an NGO called “Madad Welfare Organisation” as a cover for their illegal activities. It has an office in Sector G-10, but the authenticity and legal status of the organization could not be confirmed when this report was filed.

Asif, who hails from Lahore, had lodged a case against the suspects at Ramna Police Station. He told the police that the suspect, Tahira Gul, who is president of the NGO, and her son Shehzad Ali Zaib stole newborn babies from hospitals and sold them for hundreds of thousands of rupees. The complainant maintained that when he posed as a buyer, the suspects sold him a baby girl for Rs350,000. He said that he recorded his deal with the suspects on audio and video. He also handed over the baby to the police, who moved her to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).

After registering the complaint, the police arrested the two suspects and obtained three-day physical remand from a magistrate.

The police said that during initial interrogation, the suspects confessed to stealing babies from various hospitals in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Peshawar and later selling them. Police sources said the suspects would charge Rs450,000 for a baby boy and Rs350,000 for a girl.

Sub-Inspector Mian Shahbaz, the investigation officer for the case, told Express that the suspects stole newborns in connivance with maternity ward staffers at the hospitals.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 3^rd, 2015.