Trichy, India: Police in Tamil Nadu rescued a kidnapped newborn baby within seven hours after the infant was abducted from a government hospital, arresting the accused woman following a swift investigation aided by CCTV footage and mobile phone tracking.
The incident took place at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital, where the baby’s mother, Sukanya, had been admitted for delivery. Sukanya, the wife of Vignesh from Thuraiyur, gave birth to her child earlier this week and was recovering in the maternity ward with her cousin present.
According to the complaint, Sukanya had befriended an unknown woman in the hospital ward who introduced herself as Meenakshi. The woman gained her trust by offering help during her stay at the hospital.
On the morning of the incident, Sukanya mentioned that she planned to take her newborn for vaccination. The woman volunteered to take the baby herself and left the ward. When she failed to return after a long time, the family became suspicious and searched the hospital premises, but the woman and the baby were nowhere to be found.
A formal complaint was immediately lodged, prompting the Tamil Nadu Police to launch an intensive search operation. Officers reviewed CCTV footage, which showed a woman leaving the hospital with a newborn and boarding an auto-rickshaw. Using surveillance footage and mobile phone tower data, police traced and arrested the suspect near Thuraiyur.
During interrogation, the accused—identified as Meenakshi from Dharmampatti in Salem district—confessed to kidnapping the baby. Police said she revealed that she had been unable to conceive for a long time and abducted the child out of desperation.
Authorities confirmed that the newborn is safe and healthy and will be handed back to the mother at the Trichy hospital. Police officials praised the rapid coordination that led to the child’s rescue within hours, calling it a critical success in preventing a potentially tragic outcome.