Abducted Syrian baby boy returned to parents in Turkey
Satılmış Akkaş - AFYONKARAHİSAR
A new-born Syrian baby abducted from a public hospital in the Central Anatolian province of Afyonkarahisar was reunited with his parents almost 15 hours later, after police found the three perpetrators.
“We managed to reunite with the baby at around 5 a.m. The baby was returned to the family in a healthy condition at around 6.30 a.m.,” said the chief physician of the public hospital in Afyonkarahisar on May 11.
“We certainly don’t believe there has been a security gap. I can speak clearly on this. We understand that this act [of abduction] was an attempt to exploit the social status of the patient [the mother]. A confidential internal investigation has been launched,” he added.
The abduction of the baby boy took place on May 10 in the afternoon, according to the police. The three perpetrators, including a woman disguised as medical staff, were captured in the district of Çay after they were identified by police using CCTV footage. They were detained for prosecution, the Afyonkarahisar Governor’s Office stated.
The boy’s father, Amir Zahlül Meeso, told reporters that the abduction took place when he had gone to the pharmacy and his wife was breastfeeding the baby boy.
“A person dressed like a medical staff member approached my wife and baby. She took him away saying some examinations had to be done. When I came back from the pharmacy we waited for a while but the baby was not brought back. We asked the secretary and the nurses but they had not seen him. Then we informed the hospital authorities and the police,” he said.
Amir Zahlül Meeso said he left the Syrian province of Aleppo because of the civil war two years ago and met his wife, Ravva Zahlül Meeso, last year in Afyonkarahisar.
