Bengaluru: A woman has been arrested on Friday for allegedly stealing a newborn from her mother at Vanivilas Hospital in Karnataka's Bangalore.
The identity of the accused woman is yet to be ascertained.
According to sources, the incident took place on November 11 when 27-year-old Arshia, a resident of Vijinapur, was admitted to Vani Vilas Hospital due to labour pain and gave birth to a baby girl.
The child was placed in the hospital's ICU due to fluctuations in health. Following a recovery in the health of the baby, her mother was notified at the hospital to take the baby to her.
After some time, the accused woman walked into the ICU and claimed that she was her grandmother. She even knew the names of the child’s mother and father. The nurse at the ICU handed the baby over to her and she walked away with the baby, sources said.
The entire incident was captured in the CCTV camera installed at the hospital.
Meanwhile, Arshia, who waited for her husband Abdul Rashid to return to the ward, informed him about the hospital's notice. When Rashid went to pick up his baby, he was informed that the baby had already been taken.
Immediately, Rashid lodged a complaint with VV Puram police station. Police procured the CCTV footage of the incident from the hospital and started the investigation by launching a manhunt.
On Friday morning, police arrested the accused woman and handed over the child to her parents.
"Preliminary interrogation of the accused revealed that on November 11, the accused reached the hospital and later came inside “mother and child centre” of the hospital. The woman picked up the baby girl from the ward and escaped from the place immediately,” a police official said.
"Upon interrogation, we learned that the accused woman had sold the baby for Rs 80,000 to a couple residing in Umar Nagh near Kumaraswamy Layout. This morning, we raided the house of the couple and rescued the baby and also arrested the couple," the police officer said.
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