Mumbai:
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) plans to double its population of women guards at hospitals in the city.
There are currently 50 female guards on duty at hospitals.
The BMC, which is governed by the Shiv Sena, says more women guards are required to combat the recent trend of new-borns being stolen.
Last Friday, a two-month-old baby was stolen from the VN Desai Hospital in Santa Cruz. CCTV cameras have led to the theory that a woman in a burqa left the hospital with the infant.
"Every person leaving with a baby will be checked so we need women. The faces of women have to be checked so it is best to have women so that no one will mind," said Chandrasekhar Rokade, the Deputy Municipal Commissioner, of the BMC.
On Tuesday, in an editorial in its newspaper, Saamna, the Shiv Sena said, "If the burqa is to be used to steal children, then we demand that it be banned as per law." The editorial followed a recent case of a woman in a burqa who allegedly stole a two-month-old child from a municipal hospital in Mumbai.
In January 2009, a four-day-old baby was stolen from Sion Hospital.