The Tiruchendur Temple Police are on the lookout for a woman who kidnapped an 18-month-old boy on Friday, October 6.
Police said a construction worker, Muthuraj, of Manavaalapuram near Puththalam in Kanniyakumari district, his wife Rathi and three children including an 18-month-old boy were staying on the premises of Mutharamman Temple in Kulasekarapattinam since September 28 as part of their vow as the head of the family was not keeping good health for a while.
Even as they were regularly offering prayers in the temple, a 40-year-old woman joined them. She introduced herself to Muthuraj and his wife that she was observing fast in the temple as her husband was suffering from mental illness.
When Muthuraj went to Tiruchendur from Kulasekarapattinam to wash clothes on Friday, the woman also joined them. Even as Rathi was washing clothes in the bathroom near the temple auditorium, Muthuraj went to the nearby shop. The woman, who was taking care of the children, took the baby to the nearby ice-cream parlour in the guise of getting him the dessert.
As she did not return even after an hour, Muthuraj and Rathi started searching for the woman but in vain. Following complaint from Muthuraj, the Tiruchendur Temple police checked the CCTV cameras fitted at various places in and around the shrine and found that the woman was leaving the temple premises with the baby.
Efforts are on to secure her and rescue the baby.
