57 days after her birth, the baby kidnapped from a hospital in Chennai recently finally got a name – Pooja. And for her relieved and overjoyed parents, the next destination is Tirupathi where they will fulfil a vow made while the search was on. Pooja was kidnapped when she was five days old.
The child born to autorickshaw driver S. Ravi kumar and Kalaiarasi, of JJ Nagar in Korukkupet, was kidnapped by a woman on October 25 from the Rajah Sir Ramasamy Mudaliar (RSRM) hospital in Royapettah. The suspect, later identified as Yogeshwari (22) of Tondiarpet, was arrested by police at her house on November 16 and infant was rescued. However, Kalaiarasi was unsure if the child was hers as its features had changed considerably by then. As per procedure, police sought a DNA test to establish the identity.
In between all this, the family members staged a road roko demanding swift action by police. For a while, it was suspected that an infant girl found abandoned in an EMU was Kalaiarasi’s child, but it was proved wrong.
“Our child, after being rescued from the woman in Tondiarpet, was sent to Bala Mandir children’s home in T. Nagar. The sad part is my wife and I could not spend much time with her as the result of the DNA test was pending,” Ravi Kumar said.
Ravi and Kalaiarasi’s prayers were answered on December 8 when the DNA test confirmed that the infant was the couple’s child. After all the formalities, the baby girl was handed over to her parents on Friday evening, 52 days after she went missing.
“I’m overjoyed at getting her back,” Kalaiarasi repeatedly said at the RSRM hospital on Saturday where she and Ravi had come to give a declaration that they had taken possession of the child.
“As she came back to us on a Friday, we offered prayers and named her Pooja. We had decided to make an offering of coins equal to the weight of the baby at Tirupathi. We will go there soon,” he said.
