Pakistani Doctor Sells Newborn After Couple Admit They Cannot Afford The Hospital Bill

NEW YORK (VINnews) — In an incident which sparked outrage and disapproval, a Pakistani doctor sold a newborn baby after his parents were unable to pay hospital expenses, according to a report by the Pakistani Ari news channel. The incident occurred in the town of Tulamba in Punjab State, Pakistan.

A man had brought his wife while she was in labor to a private hospital to deliver their child, and after the mother gave birth to her child, she was surprised that the costs were too high for them to pay.

Shockingly, according to local reports, when they told hospital administrators they were unable to afford the medical bill, a doctor forcibly took the child and sold it to a childless man named Faisal against the will of its parents. The parents immediately filed a complaint with police, who later raided the hospital to arrest the doctor.

After some discussion, the baby was restored to its parents and the doctor responsible for the incident was briefly taken in to custody, but the hospital asked the couple not to press charges against him. It was not reported what the hospital was, whether it was paid in the end or how much Faisal had paid for the baby.

This is not the first occasion that a child has been sold recently in lieu of hospital bills. In the city of Agra, India, a rickshaw-puller named Shiv Charan brought his pregnant wife to deliver her baby last September. After the delivery of the baby, Shiv Charan’s wife had to stay at the hospital for several days. On being discharged some days later, Shiv Charan was handed over a bill of Rs 35,000. He had then said that he won’t be able to pay the amount.

The doctor demanded that either Shiv Charan make the entire payment, or sell the baby to him, the rickshaw puller said.

Unable to pay the bill, the couple agreed to sell the baby. The doctor bought the newborn baby for Rs 1 lakh (equivalent to 100,000 rupees) out of which, he adjusted the Rs. 35,000 hospital bills and returned the remaining amount of Rs 65,000 to Shiv Charan.

When the district administration came to know about this incident, a team of health department officials raided the hospital. The team found that the hospital was running in just four rooms on the first floor of a four-story building — one room was for the manager, one for the doctor, one large room was serving as the delivery room and the remaining room was the ‘ward’. The license had not been renewed for five years.

The child was returned to the rickshaw-puller and his wife after they testified that they were forced to sell their child and the accused doctor will face criminal action for human trafficking and other crimes.