SAMBALPUR: The 28-year-old woman who was arrested for stealing a newborn from VIMSAR, Burla had a story of betrayal, desertion and desperation to hold on to a new family.
Sambalpur police had arrested the accused, Jaspanjali Oram (28) of Khulia village within Sason police limits from Rengali on Thursday. Her husband Arun Oram, 30, was also detained but released by police after interrogation as he was not directly involved in the theft.
Investigation revealed that Jaspanjali had suffered a miscarriage and under pressure from the family for a child, she not only faked pregnancy but also kidnapped the baby from VIMSAR.
Briefing mediapersons on Friday, ASP Haresh Chandra Pandey saidJaspanjali and Arun were in love since they were teenagers. Due to family issues, Arun had to go outside to work at a very young age. Jaspanjali’s family married her off to another man from Bareipali and the couple had a daughter.
However, her husband eloped with another woman a few years after the marriage and also took the daughter with him, police said. Jaspanjali returned to her maternal home and stayed with her parents. Around two years back, Jaspanjali got to know that Arun had returned.
She got back with her old love and the two started living as a couple in Salebhata area of Rengali.
Jaspanjali later conceived but suffered a miscarriage. Owing to pressure from the family to have a baby, police said, the 28-year-old planned to fake her pregnancy. She managed to do so and kept her husband as well as her in-laws in dark.
Last week, she came to VIMSAR on the pretext of health check-up and befriended the parents of the infant she eventually stole. She hatched a plan and called her husband to inform him that she had given birth to a baby boy.
When Arun arrived at VIMSAR and asked her to show the child, she said the baby was in the SNCU. When Jaspanjali got a chance on Tuesday, she ran away with the baby and took him to Rengali. The parents of the newborn, Gita and her husband Mohan Das had come from Basna in Chhattisgarh for delivery on November 24.