Two-month-old kidnapped from VN Desai Hospital in Mumbai

Civic hospitals in the city just do not seem to care for the safety of their patients. On Friday, a woman in burqa kidnapped a two-month-old boy from VN Desai Hospital in Santa Cruz (East).

Police said the boy, Ayushman, is the son of 19-year-old Pooja Mishra, a resident of Santa Cruz (East). Pooja had got doubly lucky on August 14 when she delivered him and a daughter, Kumkum.

Around 11.30 am on Friday, Pooja and her mother-in-law, Shyama, took the twins to the hospital for polio vaccination. But the two drops of life cost them all their happiness. The police said Pooja took Kumkum to the second floor of the hospital for vaccination, and left her son with his grandmother on the ground floor.

A police officer said: “Shyama noticed a burqa-clad woman roaming around and talking to everyone, giving an impression that she knew them well. This woman came to her and said Pooja had called for Ayushman for the polio drop.”

Shyama said she did not suspect her and gave her the baby.

“The horror unfolded when Pooja returned and her mother-in-law narrated the story. A shocked Pooja revealed she had not sent anyone to get the boy,” the officer added.

DCP Satyanarayan Chaudhary said both the women frantically searched the entire hospital for the child. “Subsequently, they informed the hospital authorities and the police,” Chaudhary added.

The family has registered a case at the Vakola police station and police are investigating. “I did not see the woman’s face, but I can definitely identify her by her voice,” Shyama told DNA.

The unidentified woman was captured by the CCTV camera while she was walking out of the hospital, but because her face was covered, her identity remains a mystery.  The police said she was not seen with the child, but it is clear she was in haste and she had something in her hand.

Pooja was taken ill and was admitted to the same hospital.

Shashikant Wadekar, dean of the hospital, said: “The family informed us very late. We immediately closed the gates and searched for the woman. But CCTV footage showed she had left the premises already.”