Unidentified woman steals newborn from Parel maternity home

Jasmine Naik (28) underwent a Caesarean section around 8 pm on Tuesday at Nowrosjee Wadia Maternity Hospital, Parel, delivering a healthy baby boy weighing 2.5 kilograms. Because of the surgery she was not able to move freely, but doctors had advised her to take short walks within the ward.

Baby blues: When Jasmine Naik went for a stroll yesterday evening, an unidentified woman escaped with her baby

Yesterday evening, Jasmine went for a stroll accompanied by her mother. They had left the baby on the adjacent bed. When they returned around 5 pm the infant was gone. The family immediately informed the hospital staff. According to sources, the kidnapper was a lady wearing an orange saree who seemed to be in her 30s.

Jasmine's husband Devdas Naik, who worked in a private company in Dubai, had quit his job and returned to the city just three months ago for the delivery. He still remembers holding the baby in his arms once yesterday morning. At the time of the kidnapping, Devdas was at his home in Borivli.

One of the ward staffers, Dhani, said she had seen the lady standing near the door since evening. "She told me that she was a relative of one of the other babies in the ward. I had requested her to stand outside the ward to avoid crowding."

Dr MJ Jussawala, Medical Director, Nowrosjee Wadia Maternity Hospital, said, "It is a very unfortunate incident. We are making an internal inquiry about the event."

J Boman, ACP, Bhoiwada police station, said, "There are no CCTV cameras in the hospital so we could not get any video footage of the kidnapper. A few ladies in the hospital had witnessed a woman rushing out, carrying a newborn. We have taken the description of the kidnapper from them. Four special teams have been formed to search and retrieve the baby as soon as possible."u00a0