Childless woman steals infant from Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital

The Delhi Police on Wednesday arrested a 27-year-old woman for allegedly stealing a newborn girl from the Safdarjung Hospital here, an official said.

The incident occurred on April 15 when the infant, born a day earlier, went missing from the postnatal care ward at 3.17 pm, police said in a statement.

Accused Pooja told police that she had been married for the last seven years but could not conceive. So, she decided to deceive her husband into believing that she was pregnant and pretended to get admitted to Safdarjung Hospital on April 14. The next day, she kidnapped the infant and brought her home, claiming the child as her own. According to police, following a complaint by the baby’s father, a resident of Yashwant Place in Chanakyapuri, an FIR was registered at the Safdarjung Enclave Police Station and multiple teams were formed.

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The teams analysed CCTV camera footage of the hospital and its surrounding areas,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Surendra Choudhary said in a statement.

In the footage, a woman who had covered her face partially with a dupatta could be seen moving through one of the hospital wards. She interacted with some of the patients and eventually left with the baby in her arms.

Footage from another CCTV camera showed the woman boarding a metro from the AIIMS Station and deboarding at INA. She then got on another train toward Huda City Centre, likely to mislead investigators, said the DCP.

Her trail was picked up again at Hauz Khas Metro Station, where she exited from gate no. 1 and was later seen getting into an auto-rickshaw near Panchsheel Flyover.

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“Despite low visibility and lack of CCTV coverage in the area, investigators managed to track down the autorickshaw using partial registration details. Its driver was traced and revealed that he had dropped the woman at Gulak Wali Gali near Malviya Nagar,” said the DCP.

Teams identified and located the accused. A raid was conducted, and the infant was safely rescued.