PESHAWAR: A family from Kohat has alleged the Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar medical superintendent and staff of the nursery ward are involved in the kidnapping of a three-day-old newborn baby from the hospital.

They demanded registration of a case against the suspects.

Naeem Khan, uncle of the missing baby, told a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Monday that his family had brought a three-day-old male baby from Kohat to the Khyber Teaching Hospital for checkup but the baby went missing on the first day of admission i.e. on July 3.

“We submitted applications to the police and hospital administration for help, but to no avail. The police registered an FIR but didn’t mention the names of the hospital’s MS, deputy MS, head of the nursery ward, and other staff in it. They took into custody only a female class-4 employee and that too without probe,” he said.

The man warned the family would demonstrate in Peshawar if the baby was not recovered within two days.

Flanked by family member Dr Umar Hayat, he said the police didn’t cooperate with him and that they didn’t properly probe the matter.

Naeem Khan said it was unbelievable that a newborn child was taken away by unidentified people from the hospital and that too when staff members was on duty.

He said the kidnapper(s) could be easily identified by the footages of closed-circuit TV cameras.

On the occasion, Dr Umar Hayat said none of the relevant officials were interested in the newborn baby’s recovery increasing unrest of the family.

He said it was the duty of the health minister and health department’s director general to step in and ensure early recovery of the baby by probe.

Dr Umar Hayat said the arrest of a class-4 employee was an attempt to hush up the matter.

He said the family would not remain silent on the matter and would begin staging demonstrations in the capital city if the baby was not recovered within two days.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2015

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