A 28-year-old woman, with a stethoscope around her neck, was arrested for attempting to steal a male child from north Delhi's Bara Hindu Rao hospital late last week, police said on Monday. Identified as Deepti Bahari, a resident of Ghaziabad who was employed as a Prep-school teacher till recently, the victim was apparently following the seemingly 'divine instructions' of a 'sage' whom she had visited for spiritual guidance after having suffered a miscarriage in her fifth month of pregnancy, said Sindhu Pillai, DCP (north).

“On November 29, a resident of the Subzi Mandi was admitted at the Hindu Rao Hospital and delivered a baby boy the next day. On that day itself, a seemingly well-educated lady came to the ward and started enquiring about the gender of all the newborns,” said DCP Pillai.

Wearing a stethoscope in her neck, witnesses said, Deepti zeroed-in on the victim after having confirmed that she had delivered a male child. She then lifted her baby on the pretext of medically-examining him. However, the victim's landlady, Arvinder Kaur, followed her.

After walking a short distance, Kaur grew suspicious. She took the baby from her lap and raised an alarm, forcing Deepti to flee.

However, on Monday afternoon, Deepti returned to the hospital again. The victim  identified Deepti and raised an alarm leading to her arrest.