CHENNAI: A three-year-old boy and his seven-year-old cousin sister, who had accompanied their parents to the Government Headquarters Hospital in Kancheepuram, went missing on Tuesday. Police suspect it to be a kidnap and launched a search.
Police identified the missing children as Sakthivel (3) and Soundharya (7). The children had come to the hospital with their parents as Sakthivel’s mother, Kamatchi (28) was admitted to the hospital for delivery. She was accompanied by her husband Moorthy and son Sakthivel along with Moorthy’s sister-in-law Kulammal and her daughter Soundharya.
The police said as Kamatchi was admitted to the ward, her family was waiting outside. A woman had befriended the family, and on Tuesday she was seen walking around the hospital premises with Sakthivel and Soundharya. When the children did not return even after 8 pm, the worried family began searching for them. Later, they lodged a police complaint. Police said several CCTV cameras in the hospital were not functioning and due to a power cut, not much footage was available.
“Since the woman is also missing, we suspect she could have kidnapped the children. As it rained heavily on Tuesday night, the available CCTV footage is not very clear,” said another police officer. Efforts are on to rescue the children.