Unable to conceive despite being married for seven years, a woman from south Delhi lied to her husband that she was pregnant, went to the Safdarjung Hospital, kidnapped a one-day-old girl and took her home. Parents of the newborn alerted the police and the woman was arrested within four hours.
Officials said a man from Yashwant Place in Chankyapuri called the police control room around 4 pm on Tuesday and said his newborn daughter had been stolen from Safdarjung Hospital by an unknown woman. His wife, the man told the cops, had given birth to their daughter at the hospital on Monday.
The police began going through CCTV footage of the hospital and surrounding areas and noticed a suspicious woman, who was seen talking to the patients and then leaving with a baby. The footage showed that the woman had boarded a train from AIIMS metro station and then travelled in different directions to confuse potential investigators.
She was seen deboarding at Hauz Khas metro station and hailing an auto from there. After officials checked the registration numbers of several autos, a driver confirmed that he had dropped the woman at Gullak Wali Gali in South Delhi's Malviya Nagar.
The police reached the house of the woman, identified as Puja Patni, and arrested her. During interrogation, Patni said she had been married for seven years but had no children. She lied to her husband that she was pregnant and left home on Monday on the pretext of getting admitted to a hospital and returned the next day with the baby girl.
The girl has been reunited with her family.
