A three-day-old baby boy was reportedly stolen from the gynaecology ward of the King George Hospital in the wee hours of Wednesday.
The unidentified culprits were suspected to have scaled a nine-foot wall behind the room where the infant and its mother were sleeping, hospital authorities said. The ward and its exit is under CCTV surveillance.
Involvement of relatives was also suspected.
Guna, wife of painter Vasupalli Yellaji of Relli Veedhi, gave birth to a baby boy in the early hours of Monday and was put up in a room adjacent to the Maternity II ward. She fed her baby at 1 a.m. on Wednesday and went to sleep. When she woke up at 2 a.m., she found her baby missing, the mother, who was still in a shock, said. Guna’s mother was sleeping by the side of the bed, and both raised an alarm immediately but a search turned futile.
Superintendent of KGH M. Madhusudhana Babu said that the room where Guna was accommodated used when the maternity ward was full. There is a washing place adjacent to it and behind that a nine-foot wall. The washing area is not covered by CCTV and its grill gate is always locked. On Tuesday night, a nurse on duty had left it unlocked as she was urgently required in the labour room, which might have provided the culprits a way, Dr. Madhusudhana Rao said.
At the gyaenic ward all male attendants are sent out by 9 p.m. and all exits, except main entrance, are locked. The labour room, wards and the main entrance are under the CCTV surveillance and a community guard is on duty at the main entrance and another inside the wards, according to him..
The security at KGH, particularly the maternity ward, had been beefed up after an infant had been stolen from the ward a few months ago. The baby was later traced and restored to its mother.
The One Town police registered a case and CI Mohammed Hussain and his men are investigating.
