Mumbai:
In a second incident of baby theft in a hospital in a month, a
burqa-clad woman stole an infant boy from the Shivaji Nagar healthcare centre in Govandi on Monday.
Two-month-old Shahid Ansari was stolen at 12.30 pm from the health centre, which is affiliated to Nair Hospital. His mother Munni Khatoon Ansari (27), had brought him in, to get his cold and fever treated.
According to Munni's police statement, after Shahid's treatment, she stood in line to get medicines and left Shahid with her eldest son, eight-year-old Mohammed Tahir.
In the mother's absence, a lady clad in a
burqa befriended Tahir. "I was waiting for my mother when an aunty in a
burqa asked me to get
paan. I refused but she persisted," said Tahir in his statement.
When Tahir returned with the
paan, he could not find his brother or the lady. "Tahir was carrying Shahid and I was standing in the line to get the medicine. We searched the entire hospital but in vain," Munni Khatoon said.
"We have sent our teams to search Govandi and also alerted highways and railway stations.
The picture of the baby has also been circulated," said Shivaji Awate of the Govandi police station.
"The woman handed over her baby to an eight-year-old child. Now what can the hospital authorities do," said Dean of Nair Hospital, Dr Ravi Rannavre.
"We have been announcing and even put up posters asking people to take care of their children," he added.
About a month ago, a 62-year-old lady was conned into giving her two-month-old grandson to a burqa-clad woman in a similar incident at V N Desai Hospital in Santacruz.