Seeking to widen the probe into newborn babies going missing from government hospitals, the Madras High Court (Madurai Bench) has directed the State Home Secretary and Director General of Police to submit a report giving details on all missing infants in TN.
Hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by a young mother, T Meenakshi, whose newborn male child was allegedly snatched by a mystery woman at the GRH in Madurai a few weeks ago, the court also called for an action plan to prevent abduction of babies from hospitals.
Meanwhile, acting on earlier orders of the division bench comprising justices S Rajeswaran and T Mathivanan, the Madurai City Police submitted a report on missing newborn babies from the GRH. As per the report, from 2006 onwards eight babies had gone missing of whom three were rescued and restored to their biological parents.
The police said that in the case of Meenakshi’s baby, organised child traffickers were at work and investigators were unable to make much headway as the hospital staff refused to cooperate for enquiry. Besides, only one CCTV camera was installed at the GRH maternity ward and the image of the culprit captured on camera was of poor quality.