An alleged attempt to kidnap a one-month-old baby girl from a hospital in the city was foiled by the timely intervention of a policeman and an autoriskshaw driver.
A woman was arrested in this connection and the child was rescued.
The Triplicane police said, the kidnap took place around 8 a.m. on Wednesday at Kasturba Gandhi Hospital, Triplicane. The infant, Afreena, was brought for a check-up by her mother Yasmeen of Bharati Nagar, Taramani, and her aunt Aktari. Afreena was born in the hospital on November 14. As she was underweight, doctors had asked Yasmeen to bring her every 15 days for a medical check-up.
Aktari had gone to enquire about a government grant for girl children. Shortly after, when Yasmeen was called inside, she handed over the child to the suspect, Suraiya Sultana (35) of Perambur, who offered to take care of the baby.
The women returned to find Sultana and the infant missing. They informed a policeman who realised that the woman had kidnapped the baby and fled in an autorickshaw with two teenage girls. The autorickshaw driver, identified as Senthilnathan, drove to a nearby police station after the policeman alerted him on his phone. The police nabbed Sultana and rescued the child.
