KARACHI, May 25: An eight-month-old baby girl was kidnapped in the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) on Friday, police said.

It was a second such incident within six months that occurred in the federally administered health facility.

“A man named Shoaib Khan reported to the Saddar police station about the incident,” said Saddar division SP Faruukh Ali. “He told the police that his eight- or nine-year-old son with his eight-month-old sister Mahnoor was waiting for other family members near the NICH elevator.”

The area police said as the boy was waiting for his family members, who were upstairs to attend to one of their sons being treated at a NICH ward, a veiled woman came to him and ask him to bring a cold drink for her.

“She asked the boy to bring a cold drink from a nearby store and leave his sister to her care,” said an official at the Saddar police station.

“When the boy returned, he didn’t find the woman and his sister there. It left the boy in a panic and the matter was finally brought to the parents notice.”

After a thorough search within the NICH with the help of staff members, the family finally reached the Saddar police station and the infant’s father lodged an FIR (145/12) under Section 363 (punishment for kidnapping) against an unknown woman.

“We have managed to find clues through closed-circuit camera television footages and also relying on human intelligence to trace the suspect,” said the SP. “We have to determine whether the crime was committed by an organised group or it was a random attempt by some individual.

Similarly, the element of some family feud also needs to be taken into account.”

The incident left Mr Khan and his family members shocked.