KARACHI: In a dramatic turn of events, police on Wednesday recovered the infant girl, who was allegedly kidnapped by motorcyclists when her mother was taking her to hospital in a cloth bag in Baldia Town, saying that the whole incident was a story fabricated by the woman to hide a child adoption scheme devised by the same woman, who was actually the foster mother of the baby girl.

Anni Shahid on Tuesday claimed that motorcyclists had ‘snatched’ a bag containing her 11-day-old ‘daughter’ Sidra.

Keamari SSP (investigation) Shamyl Riaz Malik told Dawn that the Madina Colony police had registered a case (FIR 488/22) under Section 363 (punishment for kidnapping) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of Ms Anni and started an investigation.

During the investigation, the child was recovered and dramatic facts regarding the incident were discovered.

Foster mother concocted story after biological mother took away her child, say police

The complainant, Anni, was actually the first wife of Shahid Soomro, who lived with his second wife somewhere else. Mr Soomro had not met his wife Anni for the past several months. Anni told her husband that she gave birth to a baby girl, which was untrue, the police officer said.

In order to prove her claim, Ms Anni convinced a woman, Ambreen, who was her tenant and recently gave birth to a baby girl, to allow her to adopt her newborn child.

The two women reached an agreement on the child adoption, but a few days later Ambreen, who was the biological mother of the child, changed her mind, and took away her infant from Ms Anni saying she would raise her daughter.

Ms Anni then lied to her husband, whom she had told that she had given birth to a child and fabricated a child kidnap story, the SSP added.

She lodged a false FIR to cover up the adoption incident, opined the SSP Investigation.

SSP Malik said that both the women had admitted this in their statements to the police.

The Madina Colony station investigation officer (SIO) has been directed to produce the ‘real mother’ of the child before court and get recorded her statement under Section 164 of the criminal procedure code, said the Keamari police’s investigation head.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2022