Unidentified woman kidnaps 7-month-old boy from hospital

A seven month-old male child was abducted from a government hospital in west Delhi on Wednesday, the police said.

A seven month-old male child was abducted from a government hospital in west Delhi on Wednesday, the police said.

HT Image

Parul, the mother of the baby, was visiting the Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Hospital with her brother-in-law for a routine, post-natal check-up when the incident occurred, said V Renganathan, additional commissioner of police (west).

Police said a woman who had covered her head with a black stole - apparently to conceal her identity - had bumped into Parul and her brother-in-law at the hospital and tried to befriend them.

The police said the woman in question, whose only description was taken from a small clip off some CCTV footage, had followed Parul and her brother-in-law around for several minutes simply waiting for an opportunity to be asked to hold the child.

“According to the mother, she and her brother-in-law had first gotten the baby checked by a doctor who had prescribed some medicines,” said an officer investigating the case.

Parul then left her 15-year-old brother-in-law with a prescription in one hand and the child in the other as she went for her own check-up in a different section of the hospital. As he stood in a queue at the dispensary, the unidentified woman reappeared and walked over to the brother-in-law. She offered to hold the child before disappearing with it, police said.

Dr Savita Babbar, medical superintendent of DDU hospital, said, “The baby’s mother discovered that a stranger had disappeared with her child after she finished with her check-up. She then lodged a complaint with the local police.”

The police said they were investigating whether the suspect was part of an organised gang of child snatchers who are known to be active in the area.

“We were informed about it around 4pm. A case of kidnapping has been registered and the matter is being investigated,” additional CP Renganathan said.