NAJRAN, 11 November 2007 — A Shariah court in Najran is expected to issue a verdict about the case of two four-year-old boys who were mistakenly swapped at birth in a Najran hospital in two weeks, Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper reported yesterday.
Yaqub and Ali were both born around the same time on Sept. 7, 2003.
The case is currently being investigated by the Directorate of Health Affairs in Najran, which received DNA test results confirming that the boys were mistakenly swapped at King Khaled Hospital in Najran.
Yaqub, who was born to Saudi parents, was handed to a Turkish couple living in Najran and Ali, born to the Turkish couple, was handed to Muhammad Al-Minjem, a Saudi camel breeder in Najran.
Speaking about the case, Health Minister Dr. Hamad Al-Manie said staff at the hospital should be given the severest punishment for the mistake that they made. The Ministry of Health set up a committee to investigate the case as soon they received a complaint, said Khaled Mirghalani, spokesman for the ministry.
“The ministry is trying its best to psychologically and socially rehabilitate the two families involved,” he said.
According to Al-Watan newspaper, Al-Minjem, upset about being separated from his son, is planning to sue the Ministry of Healt for damages. His lawyer told the newspaper that he was demanding SR50 million in damages for the inhumane treatment his family has received from the hospital.
“Al-Minjem also wants all the hospital staff who were responsible for the mix-up to be punished,” said the lawyer, adding that his client is skeptical about the DNA tests and would like them to be conducted again to prove his paternity beyond any doubt.
Al-Minjem told Al-Watan that his family was going through an emotional crisis.
In a previous report, Yusuf Joja, the Turkish father, said that when he was first handed the child he had some doubts. “A very serious feeling was growing inside me. I contacted the hospital several times and I met a number of officials there, but they didn’t take my suspicions seriously. One of them told me to fear God and asked how I could raise such doubts,” said Joja.
The couple went to Turkey, where Joja and his wife underwent DNA tests, which confirmed that Yaqub was not their biological child. The couple then decided to return to Saudi Arabia to search for their real son. They lodged a complaint at the Ministry of Health, which in turn ordered another DNA test that proved that Yaqub was not their son.
The Interior Ministry together with the Health Ministry assigned a team to search for the Joja family’s biological child in Najran. After sometime, it was found out that a boy with Turkish features was living with a Saudi family.
Joja, who used to own a workshop in Najran and has since moved back to Turkey, said that as much as his wife is happy at being reunited with her biological son, she is grieving the departure of Yaqub, whom she raised and loved like her own for four years.
Al-Watan said DNA test results released by the Bureau of Criminal Identification would be shown to Prince Mishaal, governor of the Najran province, to complete the procedure of handing over the children to their biological parents.
