JOIN USA three-day-old baby boy was stolen from the state-run Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in Shivajinagar on Sunday afternoon.
CCTV camera footage of the hospital shows a burkha-clad woman fleeing with the baby, said the police, adding that a search is on for her.
Kadugodi-resident Fareeda, wife of meat shop worker Syed Habeeb, had given birth to the baby on Thursday afternoon.
Soon after delivery, the baby was shifted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Every two hours, it was handed over to the mother for breastfeeding.
Around 12:30 pm on Sunday, the hospital staff gave the baby to Fareeda. Meanwhile, an unidentified burkha-clad woman approached her and started cuddling the baby, saying it was cute. She asked Fareeda if she could carry the baby for a while, and she obliged.
The woman took the baby in her arms and struck up a conversation with Fareeda.
She told Fareeda she loves baby boys, but has only daughters. The woman then walked inside the ward with the baby.
A few minutes later, she gave Fareeda the slip and fled with the baby, said the police.
Fareeda searched for them in her ward and the corridor, but in vain. She also asked other patients, who told her they had not seen where the woman had gone.
Fareeda immediately informed the hospital authorities, who checked the premises but could not find the woman. They alerted the hospital’s police outpost.
The jurisdictional Commercial Street police rushed to the spot and carried out a complete check of the hospital.
The police examined CCTV footage and found the woman fleeing the hospital with the baby.
“We have obtained the footage but the video is not clear. Its quality is being enhanced. There are other clues we are working on, and will nab the woman. She had come prepared to steal a baby by covering herself in a burqa,” said a senior police officer.
Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospitals Resident Medical Officer Dr Prasanna Kumar said there was no negligence on the hospital's part.