5-day-old boy’s kidnapper held

Mumbai: The five-day-old boy kidnapped from BYL Nair Hospital on Thursday night was rescued in less than seven hours.

The boy was traced to the civic-run V.N. Desai Hospital in Santacruz on the same day. Two security guards were on duty in the maternity ward of the hospital when the accused, Hazel Donald Corriea (37), came with the baby claiming to have delivered on the way to the hospital. After medical evaluation and further inquiry, the hospital staff exposed Corriea’s lie and alerted the Vakola police station.

Corriea was booked under Section 363 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with the kidnapping of minors, said Agripada police officials.

According to the police, the accused is married but did not have children. She added that her husband used to torture her to have a baby.

It was Snehal Maruti Desai and Manoj Ladoba Malik, members of the security staff at the V.N. Desai Hospital, who found something amiss with Corriea. They promptly alerted nurse Bhakti Tare, who helped expose the accused.

“We spotted the lady complaining about breathlessness. When we inquired further, she seemed confused and gave incorrect answers. This solidified our doubts,” Mr Malik said.

Ms Tare then took away the baby from the accused and asked her to undergo a few tests, continued Mr Malik. “The photos and videos of the accused and the kidnapped baby were doing their rounds on WhatsApp. We were sure that this was the same baby we had seen on WhatsApp. Even the birthmark of the baby matched,” Mr Malik added.

After confirming the basic details, the V.N. Desai staff alerted Vakola police station, which forwarded the case to the Agripada police station, since the offence was registered there.

Meanwhile, the police and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) are fighting to seek credit for recovering the child in such a short span of time.