Newborn abducted from Tirupur Government Hospital rescued, woman arrested

Coimbatore: A 3-day-old newborn boy who was abducted from the Tirupur Government Medical College Hospital near Kallakurichi has been rescued within 12 hours and the police arrested a woman on Tuesday.

The accused has been identified as a 27-year-old childless woman and wife of Vijay Anand from Ammapalayam in Tirupur.

The woman whose child was rescued within 12 hours by the police was admitted to Tirupur Government Medical College Hospital for delivery on April 22nd. She gave birth to a baby boy that very day. 

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Talking about this, a police officer informed TOI, "The accused, identified as Uma, was taking care of another woman, who was in the same ward after undergoing an abortion. Uma befriended Kamalini and offered to take care of her son. On Tuesday, she took the baby from the ICU and escaped from the hospital."

The shocking incident took place after the accused volunteered to help her baby. She then took the baby, faking an examination by doctors on Tuesday afternoon and never returned.

Suspicious about this, the victim's husband went to the place of treatment and saw that the accused was not there. Shocked by this, He told the nurses and the people there that the child was missing and the people nearby had abducted him. A complaint was lodged with the Tirupur South Police regarding child abduction.

Accordingly, the police went to the spot and conducted an investigation. They also investigated the footage recorded in the surveillance cameras there. Suspecting that the accused woman might have abducted the child, the police contacted the cell phone number of the accused but it was switched off.

"By tracing the call records, the police picked up the accused from Kallakurichi district on Wednesday morning. She was hiding in the house of a relative in Paranginatham village," police informed DT Next.

Meanwhile, the police released a photo of the woman who allegedly kidnapped the child. They also formed 3 special teams to nab women suspected of being involved in trafficking. After making efforts, the police caught the accused near Kallakurichi, who had kidnapped the child by pretending to help them and rescued the child safely from him. Following this, she was arrested and the police are investigating the case.

This is the second incident of child kidnapping reported in the hospital. 

Concerned about the safety of the newborns, Tirupur Medical College and Hospital dean Dr R Murugesan said "Information boards cautioning on child lifters will be placed in Hindi in the hospital premises as several migrant workers from north India undergo treatment in the maternity ward."

"It will also be made mandatory for only the mother to bring the newborn for vaccinations. Also, more cameras will be fixed in the hospital to enhance surveillance," he added.

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