Jhang: A 24-year-old woman and her newborn daughter were allegedly subjected to a deadly and illegal Caesarean section by a quack Hakeem and his Tabiba wife at a clinic near Akrianwala in Jhang, leaving the baby dead and the mother seriously ill, according to a complaint before the Punjab Healthcare Commission.
The woman, wife of private-school teacher Rai Farooq, was at full term when she developed labour complications. Her mother-in-law and sister-in-law initially took her to Basic Health Unit Mandi Shah Jewana, but, according to the complainant, staff there refused to entertain or admit her.
As her condition worsened, the family took her to Matab Al Khair in Muzaffar Colony, Akrianwala, on the Jhang-Sargodha Road, instead of shifting her to a hospital with obstetric, surgical and neonatal facilities.
The complaint alleges that Hakeem Ghulam Rasool, who runs the matab, and his wife Tabiba Sadia Sher performed a Caesarean section on the woman despite having no recognised qualification or legal authority to undertake major surgery or manage an obstetric emergency.
A baby girl was delivered during the alleged procedure but died after receiving no proper neonatal treatment or resuscitation support, Rai Farooq stated in his complaint to the PHC.
He alleged that his wife was left with a poorly stitched abdominal wound and cotton and other material inside her body after the operation. Her condition subsequently deteriorated and the family shifted her to a private hospital in Jhang city, where she underwent an emergency uterine evacuation procedure and remained admitted for several days because of infection and other complications.
An ultrasound report issued after the alleged surgery noted a postpartum uterus with echogenic material and advised emergency referral to the gynaecology department. The report will be among the documents examined by the regulatory inquiry.
The case has raised disturbing questions over how an unqualified couple could allegedly perform a complex abdominal operation at a clinic that publicly advertises eastern medicine and hijama services, and why a woman in a life-threatening labour emergency was not stabilised and referred from the nearby BHU to an appropriate hospital.
Rai Farooq alleged that the Hakeem and his wife charged his family several hundred thousand rupees for the procedure and subsequent treatment. When the family questioned them after the newborn’s death and the woman’s deteriorating health, he said they were threatened and intimidated.
He further alleged that after he lodged a complaint with the PHC, the Hakeem used a small local newspaper to publish baseless allegations against him in an apparent attempt to pressure him into dropping the case.
PHC officials said the complaint was under investigation and a team of experts and investigators would visit Akrianwala to inspect the premises, examine records and determine whether any unauthorised surgical practice had taken place.
They said the inquiry would examine the role of the alleged practitioners, the standard of care provided at the clinic, the circumstances surrounding the newborn’s death, and the reported failure of the BHU Mandi Shah Jewana to provide timely assessment or referral.
The officials said action would be taken against all those found responsible after completion of the inquiry, adding that the matter highlighted the continuing danger of quackery in poor and rural communities, where desperate families can be pushed towards unsafe and illegal treatment in the absence of prompt public-sector care.
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