A newborn boy who went missing from Dushanbe’s Maternity Hospital No. 1 in the early hours of October 12 has been found alive and well and reunited with his mother, a police spokesperson told Asia-Plus.
Sirojiddin Shakuri, a spokesperson for the Dushanbe Police Department, said the child’s life and health were not in danger. However, he did not disclose where the infant had been, how he was found or whether anyone had been detained in connection with his disappearance.
Shakuri said law enforcement agencies would provide further details later.
The newborn’s relatives also confirmed to Asia-Plus that the boy had been found and was back with his mother. They said they did not yet know the circumstances of his disappearance and discovery.
How did the newborn go missing?
On October 11, 19-year-old Mavzouna Akramova, a native of the Nourobod district in eastern Tajikistan’s Rasht Valley, gave birth to her first child at the Research Institute of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology of the Republic of Tajikistan, commonly known as Maternity Hospital No. 1.
According to relatives, the boy was born healthy. Family members remained at the hospital until around 4 p.m. that day before returning home.
The following morning, October 12, relatives planned to visit the mother and newborn. However, the young woman’s uncle received a call from the hospital informing him that the infant had gone missing at around 1 a.m.
On October 13, the medical facility confirmed the disappearance to Asia-Plus.
Mohpari Akramova, the newborn’s paternal grandmother, told Asia-Plus that, according to information received by the family, CCTV footage allegedly showed a woman believed to be a hospital employee taking the infant and leaving the facility.
Asia-Plus was not given access to the footage and could not independently verify the claim. Relatives also said police were searching for the newborn and continued their efforts overnight.