KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has directed the relevant police officials to file their respective replies on a petition of a woman against the doctors and paramedical staff of the Civil Hospital Karachi for swapping her newborn boy with a dead girl.

A two-judge bench headed by Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi put the SHO and station investigating officer (SIO) on notice to file their respective comments on the petition of Hina Ishtiaq, wife of Ishtaiq Ahmed, who impleaded the home secretary, deputy medical superintendent of the CHK, Dr Raza, Dr Mehwish, Dr Faiza, and nurses Zainub and Razia Noor, and SIO and SHO of the Eidgah police as respondents.

The woman sought the recovery of her baby boy.

She stated in her petition that she had given birth to a boy in the CHK’s delivery ward on Jan 25 and the resident medical officer issued a certificate to her confirming the birth of an alive baby boy.

The woman petitioner said she was discharged from the hospital on Jan 27, but her baby boy being seriously ill was admitted to the children’s ward of the hospital.

She submitted that her baby remained in the ward for 15 days and later the hospital staff informed her child had died and she was called to the hospital to receive the body.

The petitioner said she was flabbergasted to see the body of a baby girl given to her. She said the medical superintendent and other respondent hospital staff threatened them of dire consequences if they agitated or protested for having been cheated.

The woman stated that she had given birth to a boy which was also evident in her ultrasound scan taken before the delivery.

She stated the police registered a case against the staff of the hospital only after she moved a local court through an application under Section 22-A of the criminal procedure court seeking registration of an FIR against the hospital’s staff.

However, the petitioner said, the police had failed to complete investigation into the matter and recover her baby despite the lapse of considerable time.

She asked the court to direct the Eidgah police to complete investigation into the matter and recover her baby.

The petitioner further asked the court to direct the investigating officer to take DNA samples of the deceased baby for examination to establish that the girl was not her child.

The bench would take up the matter after a month.

Published in Dawn October 12th, 2016