ISLAMABAD: A two-month-old abandoned baby was among 14 infants killed in a nursery fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad this week, an official confirmed on Friday, highlighting delays in transferring legal custody of abandoned children in the capital.
The baby, whom hospital staff had informally named Ali, had lived in the Mother and Child Health (MCH) ward nursery since his birth on June 21.
He was born to a 15-year-old mother whose family left the hospital after being unable to provide the marriage documentation required by police for medico-legal clearance, according to hospital sources cited by Dawn newspaper.
Public hospitals are expected to transfer legal custody of abandoned newborns to the deputy commissioner of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), who is the lawful custodian of unattended children. Ali remained at the hospital for more than eight weeks before the fire.
A police official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the hospital had contacted the deputy commissioner’s office.
“In this specific case, the hospital has written to the deputy commissioner for initiating the process,” the official told Arab News, without giving the date of the correspondence.
The hospital and the deputy commissioner’s office did not respond to requests for comment on when that letter was sent, what action followed, or why custody had not been transferred.
Legal experts say administrative procedures can delay such transfers in Pakistan, which has no formal adoption law. Custody is handled instead through an administrative and judicial process overseen by the deputy commissioner’s office.
“Given the process, it takes time,” said Syed Muaz Shah, a lawyer specializing in adoption and guardianship cases, adding that even expedited cases can take six months to two years.
Once a child is identified as abandoned, the office invites applications from prospective families through newspaper and social media advertisements. Applicants go through a two-stage vetting process by a committee of civic members, legal
professionals, child specialists and religious scholars, chaired by an additional deputy commissioner.
“With organizations like Edhi, when a child is placed in a cradle, they process it immediately the next day because applications are already queued,” Shah said. “On the other hand, a child found mysteriously, not in formal abandonment circumstances, involves extensive due diligence to locate parents and verify health before custody moves forward.”
Selected families must provide property in Islamabad as surety before obtaining formal custody through the city’s guardianship courts, Shah said.
Arab News found no notice relating to the case on the deputy commissioner’s official Facebook page, and a source involved in such cases confirmed that no process had been initiated.
The fire broke out at about 6:38 a.m. on Wednesday after an electrical spark in an air-conditioning unit ignited nearby oxygen supply lines, according to hospital officials. The resulting explosion brought down part of the structure within seconds, trapping infants inside.
Ali’s body remained in the hospital mortuary, according to local media.
