The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the City Police to trace and produce the newborn male baby stolen from the Madurai Government Rajaji Hospital before it on April 17, 2014.
Hearing the Habeas Corpus Petition filed by the baby’s mother T Meenakshi, a Bench comprising Justices A Selvam and V S Ravi directed the Mathichiyam police inspector to produce the missing baby before the court during the next hearing.
In her petition, Meenakshi stated that she was admitted to the GRH in the early hours on June 14 last year. Subsequently, she was delivered of a male baby through C-section around 7.15 am and shifted to Ward 251.
The next day, after the doctor’s routine visit, a woman clad in a yellow saree claiming to be a hospital worker had asked Meenakshi to hand over the baby to her for a ‘breathing test’. When Meenakshi hesitated, the woman allegedly snatched the baby and soon vanished from the hospital.
A complaint was lodged with the Mathichiyam police, but attempts to trace the mystery woman based on the CCTV footage became futile as the captured image was hazy. The police were unable to get any vital clues to proceed with the case and retrieve the baby.
The petitioner then sought for transfer of the investigation to some other agency, which was opposed by the Madurai City police. Earlier in the case, the court summoned the Health Secretary and also impleaded him as a party.
What irked the judges was the fact that the police could not trace the baby even after 10 months. The Bench instructed the Mathichiyam Police inspector, who was present before the court, to trace and produce the baby before it on April 17.