ISLAMABAD: A newborn baby boy disappeared from the Mother and Child Care Hospital at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), police said on Saturday.

In response to a complaint lodged by Ziaullah Khan, the father of the baby, the Margalla police registered a kidnapping case against an unidentified woman.

Talking to Dawn, the complainant said his wife gave birth to the baby through an operation on Friday. Later, she along with the newborn was shifted to the ward.

He said his wife and a sister found the baby missing when they woke up late on Saturday night. He said the other patients and their attendants had seen a woman taking away the baby when his mother and aunt were sleeping.

On Saturday morning, the father of the baby and his relatives held a protest at Faisal Avenue and blocked traffic against the kidnapping. They said the baby was kidnapped due to the negligence of the hospital administration.

“Patients and newborns are not allowed to leave the hospital without a discharge certificate but the unidentified woman came to the ward and took away my son,” the father said.

About four hours later, the capital police and administration officers got the road opened after assuring the protesters that the baby would be recovered and action would be taken against his kidnapper.

“We have given them 48 hours for the safe recovery of my son and ended the protest,” the father said.

Committee formed: The management of Pims on Saturday formed a committee to investigate the alleged kidnapping of the baby.

However, the investigation had to be stopped at the initial stage as the CCTV footages of the hospital were found non-functional.

An official of Pims requesting not to be identified said there was a female attendant of the mother. The attendant remained with the mother and later disappeared along with the baby.

“We have adopted a policy under which as soon as the mother regains consciousness we hand over the newborn to her after which it is the responsibility of the mother and her attendants to take care of the baby,” he said.

However, the official said the CCTV cameras of the hospital were out of order due to which it was impossible to get footages of the attendant.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2015

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