Cops suspect baby kidnap part of bigger racket

The kid was reunited with her mother, also named Manimegalai (22), from Pulianthope village in Tiruvannamalai district, who gave birth to a girl child at the Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children, Egmore, two weeks ago. They have been sent to a home in the city. The other two accused have been identified as Aishwarya (25), Manimegalai’s aide, and Sumithra, a staff of a private firm posted at the Egmore hospital. Police said the trio kidnapped the child on request and further inquiry is on to find out if the accused belong to a larger child trafficking racket.

Giving details about the case, Sudhakar, Joint Commissioner (Chennai-North), said that the accused Manimegalai posed as an advocate to enter the Egmore hospital to avoid being questioned by authorities. Sumithra, who knew that the mother was still at the hospital with her older daughter (age 1), alerted the accused Manimegalai in Salem.

Manimegalai and her aide Aishwarya had visited the hospital a number of times and convinced the victim to give her newborn in adoption on the promise that she could regularly see the child by being employed as a maid in the house where her child would be adopted. Later, they brought Manimegalai and the kids to a private house without the doctor’s knowledge. On Monday, they told Manimegalai that she needed to undergo some tests and took the family to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. She was made to sit outside Amma Scanning Centre with her elder child at RGGGH, while the kidnappers escaped with her newborn. Based on Manimegalai’s complaint, police examined the CCTV footage at RGGGH and the Egmore hospital and identified the culprits. Immediately, a special team rushed to Salem, rescued the child and arrested Manimegalai and Aishwarya from a house behind Apsara theatre.