Personal enmity leads to kidnapping of newborn from hospital; 2 women held

New Delhi: A personal grudge over a family dispute led to the abduction of an infant from Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital in Rohini area here, police said on Friday.

The infant was rescued within hours and two women were arrested for orchestrating the abduction to “teach a lesson” to the child’s mother, they said. The plot involved a relative of the family and an accomplice who posed as a hospital staff to take the newborn away on the pretext of a medical check-up.

The incident was reported on December 31 after the mother, Dolly, informed authorities that her son had gone missing from the ward where she was admitted for delivery. Following the complaint, police registered a case and formed a team to track the child.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini) Rajeev Ranjan said the breakthrough came after a scan of CCTV footage from the hospital. “The footage showed a woman, later identified as Suman Devi, persuading the mother to hand over the infant to another woman, Pooja Soni. Soni claimed she was a hospital worker and offered to take the baby for vaccination and weighing, even though the vaccination centre was already closed,” the officer said.

The cameras captured Pooja Soni swiftly leaving the premises with the infant. Suman Devi, who is related to the mother, was detained from the hospital. During questioning, she confessed that the kidnapping had been planned in advance with Soni, who had no official connection to the hospital.

According to the police, the baby was taken to Suman Devi’s residence and left with her 14-year-old daughter. Officials raided the house, rescued the infant safely and reunited him with his parents. Soni was subsequently traced and arrested from her residence in West Delhi.

The accused have been identified as Suman Devi (45) and Pooja Soni (43). Both are residents of Delhi and do not have any previous criminal record. Further investigation into the matter is underway, they added.