Child traffickers continue to have a free run in the Capital what with Government hospitals being especially vulnerable. In a second such incident in less than six weeks, a seven-month old baby boy was stolen by an unidentified woman from Deen Dayal Upadhayay (DDU) hospital on Wednesday afternoon.
According to police, the woman - identified as Parul - and her 15-year-old brother-in-law had had taken the seven-month old baby for a routine checkup. Post examination, the mother headed to the medical dispensary at the hospital. Waiting in queue with babe in one arm and prescription in the other, a lady offered her services.
The unsuspecting victim relented only to find the lady had disappeared with her child. The woman lodged a written complaint with the Medical Superintendent at the hospital. “A PCR call was received around 4 pm. Police officials rushed to the spot and a case was registered. Police obtained CCTV footage to try and trace the lady. The alleged offender can be seen whisking a baby away from his mother,” clarified a police official.
A case under Section 363 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for kidnapping of a baby has been registered at Hari Nagar police station. Dr Praveena Goel, additional Medical Superintendent at DDU, however, refuted allegations of any security lapse. “Relatives of patients need to be more cautious at and not be lax in handing over their child to unknown people,” she cautioned.
In fact, a month and a half back, a similar incident had occurred with a grandmother queuing up at a hospital’s dispensary with her grandchild.