11-yr-old abducted boy rescued from labour in Delhi’s Shakurpur

During the investigation, the boy’s mother told investigators that the boy managed to sneak a call to her on October 28.

An 11-year-old boy was rescued safely on Saturday after he was allegedly kidnapped from near his house in northwest Delhi’s Shakurpur area. Police said the accused 40-year-old woman — who forced the boy into garbage collection and also physically abused him— has been identified, but not held yet.

11-yr-old abducted boy rescued from labour in Delhi’s Shakurpur

The accused’s daughter lives in the same neighbourhood as the victim, whose parents are daily wagers. On October 4 evening, she purportedly lured the child by offering him prasad, and then took him away.

Deputy commissioner of police (crime) Pankaj Kumar said that a missing child’s complaint was filed at Netaji Subhash Place police station on October 5 by the parents of the child.

During the investigation, the boy’s mother told investigators that the boy managed to sneak a call to her on October 28.

“He could only say ‘Mummy!’ on the call. As the woman saw him on the phone, she snatched it from him and disconnected. His mother called back on the phone number multiple times but nobody answered. Acting on the lead, we traced the boy to some other block in Shakurpur on the basis of technical surveillance and field verification, from where he was rescued safely,” DCP Kumar said.

“The boy told police that a woman whose daughter lives in his neighbourhood offered prasad to him and later forced him into collecting garbage. She allegedly subjected him to physical abuse and starvation. While the boy has been reunited with his family, the crime branch officers have shared details of the woman to the local police to arrest her. The suspect is the mother of a woman living in the victim’s neighbourhood in Shakurpur,” he added.

This is not an isolated case in Delhi in recent times. Recent kidnapping incidents in the Capital have primarily involved the abduction of minors, often for reasons such as child trafficking, personal disputes, or ransom.

Last month, a childless couple, their neighbour and two minors were arrested for the abduction of a 27-day-old infant in west Delhi. The neighbour had hired the teenagers to kidnap the baby for ₹20,000.

In August this year, a 13-year-old girl was allegedly trafficked, married off in Uttar Pradesh for monetary benefits and raped after she left home in Delhi’s Bharat Nagar following a dispute with her father nearly a month ago.

In January, investigating a child’s missing complaint from New Delhi Railway Station led police to another kidnapping from October 2024. As they probed the case, police unearthed a nexus of children being kidnapped and sold to childless couples.