A two-day-old child was allegedly missing from the Intensive Care Unit of neonatal ward of Dhaka Medical College Hospital yesterday.
The grief-stricken 35-year-old mother was at a loss for words since her baby girl allegedly disappeared from the newborn unit which is always under strict security.
Shefali Akter, wife of Mohammad Khokon, a rickshaw puller, was still frantically searching for her child in front of the children’s ward at the time of writing this report.
Momotaz Begum, elder sister of Shefali, said her sister married Khokon a couple of years ago, and had given birth to her only child in the early hour of last Thursday.
She added that the child was weak and doctors referred the her to the newborn ward for specialised treatment.
Shefali’s husband claimed that he admitted the baby to the neonatal ward and the doctors sent him out to buy some medicine.
“I had no money on me, so I went home to get some. When I returned to hospital with medicine and asked for my child, the physicians said my relatives have taken the baby with them,” said Khokon.
“I was stunned since none of my relatives were at the hospital with me,” explained the stunned father.
“My wife was admitted to 212 No ward of the hospital and her elder sister Momotaz was attending,” he added.
In reply to a query, Abdul Khaleq, commander of Ansar at DMCH, told the Dhaka Tribune Khokon brought the baby to the neonatal unit, but the doctors did not receive the baby girl.
“We found a letter with Khokon issued from Gynecology Department referring to admission, but Khokon did not admit the child to the ward,” Khaleq added.
The letter was found inside Khokon’s pocket. Dr Rafi, the on-duty doctor, issued the letter on March 6, asking the neonatal physicians to receive the child patient and give specialised treatment.
The letter read Shefali gave birth a baby girl who was very weak and did not cry immediately after birth. So the child required specialised treatment.
The Dhaka Tribune visited the neonatal unit at 5pm yesterday to check the registrar and find out whether the baby was received, but Dr Sadia Islam refused to show the registrar when she came to know about the identity of the correspondent.
The on-duty doctor flew into a rage and asked the correspondent to leave the ward immediately.
The neonatal unit appears to be secure, with two Answer members – one male and another female – on guard at the entrance.
One is allowed to enter the newborn unit after presenting proper identification.
In reply to how a child could go missing from such a secure place, Brig Gen Mostafizur Rahman, director of DMCH, gave his version that the neonatal doctors did not receive the baby, they just gave it first aid.
The baby was born in the hospital and the gynecology doctors referred it to the neonatal ward for a checkup, he added.
Asked about the allegation that the baby was missing from the newborn unit, he said: “We have formed a four-member probe body to investigate the matter with DMCH Assistant Director Dr Jahdul Islam as its convener.”
