PESHAWAR, Nov 28: The ongoing row between two couples over the custody of an infant appeared to be far from being settled when a local court ordered on Tuesday that the baby-boy should continue to be kept at the women’s police station where he has been staying since Nov 22. The child is said to have been ill for some time.

District and sessions judge Mussadiq Hussain Gillani also directed that Mrs Naveeda, who claims to be the infant’s mother, could stay with the baby.

The infant, named Haseebur Rehman by the couple who had been looking after him for more than four months, has been kept at the police station after police recovered him from the Muslim Town residence of Mr and Mrs Enayatur Rehman on Nov 22.

"The child has been suffering from flu and has throat infection. We have been trying to look after him properly. But we, obviously, cannot be a replacement for his mother," said an officer at the women’s police station.

A police official, who is part of the investigation team, said that the report of the DNA test was expected to be received on Dec 15, which would determine whether the baby was the missing son of Mrs Naveeda.

On Dec 1, the sessions judge will take up for hearing an application filed by one of the couples for the custody of the child till the DNA test report came from Lahore.

The application has been filed by Mrs Aimon Rehman who has been rearing the infant for the last four months.

Police have also requested the court to hand over the child to somebody as his proper care could not be taken at the police station.

An official at the women’s police station said they had requested authorities to take up the issue with the court as to who would be responsible in case anything happened to the infant at the police station.

Mrs Naveeda and her husband Israr Khan have also filed an application seeking the boy’s custody.

A baby was born in Shabqadar area on June 23 and his mother was admitted to the Lady Reading Hospital’s nursery owing to her bad health.

The baby disappeared from the nursery on June 28. A number of hospital’s employees were taken into custody but police failed to find the baby.

The police finally recovered an infant from the residence of Mr and Mrs Rehman who claimed he was their adopted son. However, the police as well as Mr Israr and his wife believe that the infant was their missing son.

Mrs Aimon Rehman, a lady health worker, said the infant was left outside her residence by an Afghan couple.

She said the Afghan woman had earlier given birth to the boy at her clinic.

On Tuesday, the case was first taken up for hearing by a judicial magistrate, Ahmad Iftikhar, who declined to grant custody of the child to any of the two couples.

He said he did not have powers to issue such orders and it would be better for the applicants to approach the district judge.

A representative of the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child, Ijaz Muhammad Khan, requested the court to at least remove the child from the police station as policewomen on duty were not in a position to look after him.

Mr Khan, who has been helping Mr and Mrs Israr since their child went missing in June, said the health of the infant would deteriorate if he had been kept in the station any more.

The president of the Peshawar Bar Association, Fida Gul, and leader of the People’s Lawyers Forum, Mohim Afridi, appeared before the court requesting the magistrate to hand over the infant to Mr and Mrs Rehman till the report of the DNA test arrived.