Woman arrested for kidnapping 20-day-old boy from Shatabdi Hospital

A 21-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping a 20-day-old boy from his mother at a hospital in Mumbai. The woman confessed to the crime, stating that she kidnapped the child because she was unable to have one of her own.

MUMBAI: A 21-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping a 20-day-old boy from his mother at Shatabdi Hospital on Thursday.

HT Image

According to the Kandivali police the complainant identified as Rinki Anil Jaiswal, a resident of Virar, claimed that a burkha-clad woman engaged her in conversation while waiting at the hospital. The woman, appearing concerned, suggested Jaiswal wash her face and even offered to hold her child. Trusting her, Jaiswal went to the washroom.

The Kandivali police officers said that when Jaiswal returned from the washroom, she noticed that the woman and her child were missing. After searching in the hospital, Jaiswal approached the police and based on her complaint a kidnapping case was registered against the unknown woman.

“Since the woman was wearing a burkha and the child was wrapped in a red blanket, CCTV footage from the hospital was of no use to identify the woman. We scanned through footage of the CCTV cameras installed in the vicinity of the hospital and found the burka-clad woman taking an autorickshaw,” said an officer.

Officials said that they analysed footage from over 100 CCTV cameras. On following the auto by CCTV footage, they found that the auto was proceeding towards Malwani and later went towards Vanrai police station in Goregaon East.

The woman confessed to kidnapping the baby, revealing that despite being married for two years, she did not have a child. Faced with constant taunts from relatives about her childlessness, she resorted to stealing a child, as per her statement to the police.