Hamida Bibi, who was pregnant, went to Hyderabad Civil Hospital on the morning of September 16 for her routine check-up, accompanied by her elder son, seven-year-old Azaan. Upon her return, she was alone and in tears, as she had lost her son Azaan in the gynaecological ward.

Azaan's father, Ikram, who is employed in a government department, reports that he filed a complaint at the Tower Market police station. The CCTV footage from the hospital depicted that his son was taken away from the civil hospital by a man and a woman.

"The police recovered the child four days later in the city of Sanghar, a hundred kilometres away. The pain and agony we experienced during these days cannot be described in words."
SSP Police Station Tower Market, Amjad Ahmad Sheikh, says that Azaan was kidnapped by Aslam and his wife, Farida, residents of Sanghar.

"Aslam, who was unemployed, and his wife, expecting their fifth child, traded their unborn child to a childless couple for Rs 50,000,” Ahmad Sheikh says.

They had received the advance payment, but their child died during childbirth. Both the husband and wife devised a plan to kidnap another child together.

Ahmed Sheikh says that Aslam and Farida are in jail, and the case's challan has been filed. Under Section 364-A of the Pakistan Penal Code, the kidnapping of a child under the age of 14 can result in imprisonment ranging from seven years to life or even the death penalty.

The abduction of Azaan from Civil Hospital Hyderabad was not an isolated incident. Several years ago, a couple residing in the neighbouring town of 'Seri' also experienced the loss of their two-day-old baby at the same hospital.

Gulshan, thirty years old, and her husband Mashuq Mallah have fallen silent after raising an outcry over the abduction of their newborn. It has been five years since this incident, yet they remain unaware of where their child is. The hospital's investigation report deemed the staff 'innocent' while labelling the newborn's parents as 'culpable of negligence.'

Every day, dozens of deliveries occur at the civil hospital affiliated with Liaquat Medical College in Hyderabad, resulting in overcrowded maternity wards.

According to official records, the gynaecology department had 17,100 deliveries last year, including cesarean sections. In the current year, 12,301 cesarean sections have been conducted, with normal delivery cases separate from this count.

The gynaecology department is staffed by over 40 individuals, including female doctors and operation theatre technicians.

Data from Thana Tower Market reveals that four children were abducted from Civil Hospital in the last five years, with three cases of abduction being registered. Only one child has been successfully rescued.

Dr Najma Sirhiv, working in the Gynecology Ward of Rajputana Hospital in Hyderabad, notes that in the majority of cases involving the abduction of newborn children, boys are the ones targeted.

"Childless couples or those with only daughters often desire a son. However, girls are typically kidnapped when they are older."

Ambreen Baloch, the Child Protection In-charge in Hyderabad, holds a slightly different perspective from Dr Najma. She says that not only newborn boys but also girls are kidnapped from hospitals.

"The kidnappers pick up any child they can get their hands on."

She says that three newborn girls were discovered abandoned in Hyderabad Civil Hospital recently and were subsequently handed over to Edhi. She also says that on the morning of December 13, four children were abducted while returning from tuition in Badhu Palari village under Naseem nagar police station limits in Hyderabad, including two sisters, four-year-old Bushra, seven-year-old Alishba and five-year-old Hasnain.

ASP Rana Dilawar of Hyderabad Police asserts that the incidents narrated by Ambreen Baloch, including this particular case, have no connection to typical kidnapping incidents.

“The children who were abducted from Badhu Palari have been recovered from Karachi. Zaheer, the accused, abducted these children with the assistance of a woman named Zara Chandio following his separation from his wife.”

Sakina, a 30-year-old resident of Sekhat village on the outskirts of Matiari, gave birth to a son seven years ago on October 10, 2016, in the gynaecological ward of the civil hospital. The entire family was delighted, but eight hours later, the newborn was kidnapped from the same ward.

Sakina, a farmer's wife, filed a petition in the Sindh High Court despite challenging circumstances. In response to court orders, a joint investigation team was formed three times, yet her child could not be found.

In this matter, the police informed the court through their report that the hospital staff was implicated in the abduction of the newborn. During this period, five DIGs and 11 SSPs of Hyderabad were changed. Even the current SSP has been assigned to the same area for the third time, yet to date, there has been no trace of the missing child.

Sakina's brother, Ali Nawaz, informed the court in 2018 that his sister had lost her mental balance following this incident. The family lacks the financial means to afford legal fees, preventing them from pursuing the case further. The police have classified this case as C class, indicating its inactive status.

MS Civil Hospital Shahid Junejo denies any hospital staff involvement in the abduction. He suggests that in 2016, the child's parents might have been negligent in the incident of the newborn's abduction. He claims that the police reported the involvement of hospital staff in the kidnapping, so they didn’t have to investigate any further.

"No official's name came up in the investigation, so no action was taken against anyone."

 SHO Tower Market says that no one was specifically named in the report regarding the child's abduction. However, the investigating officer expressed concerns about the hospital staff's potential involvement.

Shahid Junejo says that only one relative per patient can enter the gynaecology ward and the nursery. Guards are stationed in these wards as well. An anonymous hospital employee reveals that the security arrangements at the civil hospital have been implemented as per the court's directive.

Kowsar Abbas, the executive director of Sustainable Social Development Organization (SSDO), an organisation dedicated to preventing human trafficking in Pakistan, holds the belief that human traffickers and criminal gangs primarily orchestrate the abduction of children from hospitals.

However, SSP Amjad Ahmed Sheikh disagrees with the notion of any specific group's involvement. He says that in Upper Sindh, there was previously a gang of seven dacoits engaged in kidnapping children for ransom, but they have since been killed in police encounters. He maintains that no such gang currently exists.

The provincial government has established another institution, the Sindh Child Protection Authority, to safeguard children. Kashif Bajeer, the coordinator of the non-governmental organisation Spark, which advocates for children's rights, expresses concern that despite having an annual budget of 20 crore rupees, the Sindh Child Protection Authority has become a very inactive institution.

Ambreen Baloch says that 20 children went missing in this district from January to December last year, with two of them being kidnapped.

She says that this year, a child was abducted from the civil hospital but later found. However, four children have gone missing from the city, and among them, 17-year-old Muhammad Aman and 15-year-old Abdul Samad are still unaccounted for. Both of them went missing on September 9, and a case of their abduction has been registered.

Muhammad Miraj, the in-charge of the welfare organisation Edhi Foundation in Hyderabad, informed Lok Sujag that childless couples in Sindh or those seeking to adopt children receive them at the main office in Karachi. These children typically have no legal heirs; in such cases, the organisation adheres to strict standards.