Close on the heels of the arrest of a doctor for reportedly selling a newborn, the south division police cracked the recent theft of a baby from Vani Vilas Hospital in the city by arresting a 30-year-old woman who had stolen the newborn, apparently to impress her husband.
The accused, after stealing the baby, admitted herself to a private hospital to fake a delivery. The police, who arrested the woman and rescued the baby, have also arrested the doctor of the private hospital for abetment.
The accused has been identified as Prema Mary, a resident of Tattaguppe. Prema hatched a plan to conceal from her husband Balaraj the fact that she had undergone a tubectomy previously. In order to impress Balaraj, she pretended she was pregnant and got herself admitted to a nursing home to fake a delivery. On December 20, she went to Vani Vilas Hospital’s maternity ward and stole Vasantha’s baby by hoodwinking Vasantha’s mother to leave the baby in her care while she went to buy snacks.
At nursing home
Prema escaped with the baby and returned to the nursing home. With the help of the doctor, she informed her husband that she had delivered a baby boy.
She had also asked the doctor to prepare fake admission documents and paid her Rs. 7,900 for the job.
While Prema got discharged from the hospital and went home with Balaraj, the police, who recovered the CCTV footage, managed to track her down to her house in Doreswamy Palya.
Prema has confessed to the crime. The police have also booked Prema Natraj, the doctor of the nursing home.
