COIMBATORE: Two unidentified women abducted a newborn from the Pollachi Government hospital on Sunday. The family of the newborn alleged that the unavailability of CCTV cameras and lack of security at the hospital led to the abduction.
According to sources, Divya Bharathi (25), wife of Yunis (28) from Kumaran Nagar in Pollachi, gave birth to a girl on Wednesday morning. The baby was immediately shifted to neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) as the mother developed complications during the delivery.
After four days of observation, the mother was shifted to a paediatric ward on Saturday and the baby was left in the mother's care. On Sunday around 5:30 am, despite two doctors, four staff nurses, and night security being present, two unidentified women, who allegedly wore hijabs, entered the ward posing as attendants of patients. When Divya Bharathi was asleep, the women kidnapped the child in a bag.
After crossing the gate, they held the child in their hand and took an autorickshaw to the bus stand, from where they boarded a bus, sources said. When the mother woke up, she realised that the child was missing and alerted staff.
On information, Pollachi East police rushed to the spot and alerted other police stations. Senior officials from police and health department visited the hospital and held an inquiry on Sunday. Meanwhile, the family members of the child gathered in front of the hospital and alleged that a lack of CCTV surveillance and security at the hospital is the reason for the baby's abduction.
R Vellai Nataraj, a member of the hospital's patient welfare association, said, "Newly constructed buildings - outpatient ward and maternity ward - started functioning two years ago. But no CCTV cameras are installed in the building and there is no police outpost. Security lapse is the reason for the issue."
As there is no CCTV surveillance in the building, the police are investigating the case with the help of CCTV footage available at private establishments outside of the hospital. Coimbatore Rural SP V Badri Narayanan said that there were 10 special teams working on the case and they have examined video footage of around 200 CCTV cameras so far.
On the security lapse, Hospital Superintendent K Kalaiselvi said the work of installing CCTV cameras and strengthening the security was underway. "Amid a huge manpower crisis, we performed 14 deliveries on Saturday itself. Manpower shortage and negligence could be the reasons for this incident. A separate inquiry is being carried out by the department," he said.
Posed as attendants
Around 5.30 am on Sunday, two unidentified women, who allegedly wore hijabs, entered the ward posing as attendants and kidnapped the baby in a cloth bag