Drug-smuggling accused returned to Pakistani jail with newborn daughter

A British woman, held in Pakistan on charges of drug smuggling, has been sent back to prison with her newborn daughter after giving birth in a hospital, a British legal group said yesterday.

Khadija Shah, 25, is being held on charges of trying to smuggle heroin worth nearly $5m (€3.8m) onto a flight to Britain.

She gave birth to her baby girl, Malaika, a few weeks ago but was returned from hospital to Adiala prison near the capital, Islamabad. The birth was not reported until yesterday.

The baby has had no immunisations and has already had to be hospitalised when she developed severe diarrhoea in the unsanitary prison, said British legal group Reprieve.

“To keep a baby behind bars is truly barbaric,” said Reprieve investigator Sultana Noon. “Baby Malaika is weak and suffering from terrible health problems, while Khadija faces execution.”

Shah has two other children. After a period of incarceration when their mother was arrested in May, they were freed into the care of a relative.

Mothers are frequently jailed with their children while their cases are heard in Pakistan’s congested legal system. Cases can take years to complete.