Daily Times

KARACHI: A mother has approached the Sindh High Court against the staff of a local hospital for changing her baby boy with a deceased girl.

A division bench headed by Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi issued notices to the head of Eidgah police station and a senior investigation officer to file their respective replies to the petition filed by Hina Ishtiaq.

The petitioner has taken the provincial home secretary, the Civil Hospital’s deputy medical superintendent, two female doctors, its lower staff, Eidgah police station’s SHO and senior investigation officer to the court seeking recovery of her baby boy.

The woman petitioner submitted that she had given birth to a boy in the Civil Hospital’s delivery ward on January 05. Subsequently, the resident medical officer issued a certificate confirming the sex of her baby. She added she was discharged from the hospital on January 07, however, her baby being serious ill was admitted into the children’s ward of the hospital.

Her baby remained in the ward for fifteen days, she said adding on January 21 the hospital’s staff informed her that her child had died and she ought to come to the hospital to receive body.

She was flabbergasted to see the body of a bay girl given to her. When she and other relatives agitated for having been duped, the hospital’s medical superintendent threatened them with dire consequences.

She maintained that she had given birth to a boy, adding prior to her delivery her ultrasound scan had also shown that she was expecting a boy. The petitioner alleged that her child was exchanged.

She told the judges that she went to the local court and filed an application under Section 22-A of the CrPC seeking registration of an FIR against the staff of the hospital. The application was allowed and an FIR was registered at the Eidgah police station.

However, despite lapse of considerable time, the police had failed to complete investigation into the matter, she said while pleading the court to order Eidgah police to complete investigation into the matter. She further requested the court to direct the investigation officer to take her DNA samples and deceased baby’s for examination to establish that the girl was not her child.

The court was further requested to order recovery of her baby boy.