Child shouldn't be denied natural guardian's warmth: Court; gives bail to mother in kidnapping case

Mumbai: A 7-year-old child should not be denied the "warmth of the natural guardian," a court here has said while granting bail to a woman arrested for kidnapping another minor girl in 2013.

The accused is the mother of a seven-year-old girl and the latter has been staying at a children's home in Mumbai's Andheri area since her arrest.

The case pertains to the kidnapping of a 7-year-old girl in 2013. The victim was found almost a decade later, leading to the arrest of the accused woman and her husband in 2022.

Additional Sessions Judge S M Takalikar (Dindoshi court), while granting bail to the woman last week, noted the child of the accused had not met her parents for the last three years.

No doubt she is admitted in the Bal Bhavan, which is taking care of her and extending protection, the court noted.

"The warmth of the natural guardian would not be denied to the child of 7 years," it said.

The court took into consideration that the accused is "deprived from the company of the child" as she has been behind bars for the last three years without the trial.

According to the prosecution, a missing report was filed by the victim's mother on January 22, 2013 at DN Nagar police station in Mumbai, after her 7-year-old daughter failed to return home from school.

She remained untraceable until on August 3, 2022, a neighbour received a video call from a woman who showed a girl resembling the missing victim.

The neighbour identified the girl as the informant's daughter, which led the mother to the location where her daughter was found, the police said.

Narrating her ordeal, the victim, in her statement, alleged that in 2013, the two accused took her away by promising her ice cream.

They took her to Goa and kept her there for several months. Thereafter, they came to Vile Parle in Mumbai, took a house on rent, and resided there for four months, before taking her back to Goa, the victim claimed.

The girl also stated the accused admitted her to a school in Karnataka and kept her there for a year.

In 2015, they came to Mumbai and had been residing in the metropolis since then, she claimed.

During this period, they confined her in a house and compelled her to do all the household work. They even forced her to work as a babysitter and collected the money earned by her, the victim alleged.

She also claimed the accused harassed her physically and mentally.

The accused woman's lawyer, Nitin Hajare (from legal aid NGO Dard se Hamdard Tak), argued the chargesheet was filed in 2022 and charges framed on January 24, 2024, but no witnesses have been examined since.

The police filed a report on April 24, 2025, stating the victim was not traceable.

The lawyer pointed out that the accused woman's daughter has been in an orphanage for three years and needs her mother's care.

The court, after hearing both the sides, noted the accused was in custody for three years since her arrest on August 5, 2022, and the trial had not progressed.

The judge acknowledged the prosecution's claim that the offence was serious, but sided with the defence's argument regarding the accused's daughter. Considering all these aspects, the court said it was "just and proper" to grant her bail.

The accused woman's husband is still in jail.