HYDERABAD, Sept 12: The civil judge and judicial magistrate-X on Wednesday remanded two sisters, their husbands and a faith healer for three days in police custody in the case of kidnapping of three-day-old baby girl, Dua, from a hospital more than three weeks ago.

The court passed the order on an application field by Hussainabad investigation police seeking custody of women on grounds that the baby girl might have died.

Kausar, Safia, their husbands Javed Iqbal and Nasir Abbas and one Rafiq alias Jadoogar, a faith healer, were remanded in police custody and two other accused, Sharif and Nasir, were remanded to judicial custody for five days.

The magistrate had earlier refused to remand the women on the basis of amendment to section 167(5) Cr.PC, barring their remand in police custody except in cases of murder or dacoity.

“Since there is an element of murder in the case, therefore, we have been given the custody of women for interrogation by the court,” said a police source.

The police’s application seeking cancellation of bail was also allowed by the magistrate after section 364-A of PPC was added, which was a session’s trial case and punishable with 14 years of imprisonment.

The second application for revision seeking remand of the sisters in police custody was filed on grounds that Rafiq alias Jadoogar had disclosed that he had seen a baby in Safiya’s lap when she had brought it to him for ‘dum’.

Police claimed that Safia’s husband had also claimed that she had a baby with her when she had arrived at home but he did not know much about the case.

The investigation officer said that he feared the baby might have died due to lack of care and added that the witnesses had identified Safia to be the women who had snatched away Dua from Bhittai hospital.

Safia and Kausar were arrested from new Karachi and were brought to Hyderabad along with their husbands. Dua was born on Aug 16 and kidnapped on Aug 19.