Woman with two daughters steals child from SNCU, arrested

Balasore: Town police on Friday arrested a woman from Khusliganj village of Remuna for stealing an eight-day-old baby from the Special Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) of Fakir Mohan Medical College and Hospital (FM MCH).

The arrested woman, 30-year-old Sumati Sao, is a resident of Khusliganj village. He was arrested on the basis of a complaint lodged by Susanta Barik and Tikili, the parents of the stolen newborn from Baliapal town. The child had gone missing from SNCU on Thursday afternoon.

Police said preliminary investigation revealed that Sumati had given birth to a baby girl a few days ago. The woman was unhappy because she already had a daughter. The accused planned to exchange her newborn baby girl with a boy. Accordingly, she went to SNCU of FM MCH and found that neither Tikili nor her husband were with their child. Taking the opportunity, she left her daughter there and ran away with Tikili’s newborn baby.

After coming out of SNCU, Sumati went to a medicine shop and borrowed its owner’s mobile phone. Using the phone, she called her husband, who was waiting outside the MCH, and asked him to pick her up. After this, Sumati left on her husband’s bike with the stolen child.

After Tikili’s child goes missing, tension spreads in the hospital premises, with police reaching the spot to investigate. The medicine shop owner, who had given his phone to Sumathi, informed the police about the accused’s conversation with her husband.

Balasore City DSP Gayatri Pradhan said a police team went to Khusaliganj village and found Tikili’s child with the accused woman at her house. Sumati was arrested on kidnapping charges and presented in court. The stolen child was rescued and returned to his parents.