Desperate Deceit: Woman Fakes Pregnancy, Kidnaps Baby from Delhi Hospital, Arrested

Seven years after her marriage, Neetu was struggling with infertility, which deeply troubled her. In an alleged attempt to cover up her inability to conceive, she devised a plan to fake a pregnancy. Last week, she left her home in Alipur village, informing her family that she was heading to the hospital for delivery. Later that day, she called her husband, claiming to have given birth to a baby boy. When she returned home with the infant, her family rejoiced. However, just eight hours later, the police arrived at her doorstep, uncovering the shocking truth—the baby was not hers. She had allegedly kidnapped a four-month-old infant from Safdarjung Hospital.

The authorities arrested the 35-year-old woman from Ambedkar Colony in Alipur and successfully reunited the baby with his biological parents. According to police reports, the case unfolded on January 29 at around 2 PM when a distressed mother, a 32-year-old woman from Madhubani, Bihar, reported that her infant son had gone missing. She explained that she, along with her husband and child, had been at Safdarjung Hospital for medical treatment and had been staying in waiting hall no. 5, where she had met Neetu.

On the day of the incident, the mother briefly left her son in Neetu’s care while she stepped out to buy milk. Upon returning, she found both Neetu and her baby missing. A kidnapping case was promptly registered, but with no photograph of the child available, police initially had few leads.

Investigators soon discovered Neetu’s bag in the waiting hall, which contained three Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) tickets and five Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus tickets. The Metro tickets, dated December 4 and January 22, indicated travel between Jahangirpuri and AIIMS. With this information, officers reviewed CCTV footage from the surrounding areas and spotted Neetu leaving the hospital in an auto-rickshaw with the infant.

Tracing the vehicle’s registration and ownership details, police examined over 50 auto-rickshaws operating in the area before locating the driver who had transported Neetu. The driver revealed that he had dropped her off at Bhim Rao Ambedkar Hospital in Rohini, approximately 16 km away. Upon reviewing surveillance footage at the hospital, investigators found that Neetu had gotten into a Maruti Swift along with two other individuals while carrying the baby. The car was traced back to an address in Alipur village, prompting police to conduct a raid at the location.

During questioning, Neetu admitted to deceiving her husband, Rajiv, and her father-in-law, Karan Singh, by pretending to be pregnant. She had left home on January 27, pretending she was being admitted for childbirth. On January 29, she called her husband and falsely announced that she had given birth to a baby boy.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Southwest Surendra Choudhary, Neetu confessed that after seven years of being unable to conceive, she decided to abduct a baby from Safdarjung Hospital to present as her own.

Further investigation revealed that Neetu had meticulously planned the deception for months. To avoid suspicion, she frequently traveled to her parental home and visited friends in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. She later informed her in-laws that she was in Delhi for her delivery and claimed to have given birth at Bhim Rao Ambedkar Hospital. Her husband and father-in-law picked her up, unaware that the child she brought home had been kidnapped.

The police were able to trace her movements using CCTV footage and the transportation tickets found in her bag. Within eight hours of the crime being reported, they tracked her location and apprehended her. The baby was safely returned to his mother, who had been anxiously waiting for his rescue. Authorities confirmed that Neetu’s husband and in-laws were unaware of her scheme and had no involvement in the crime.

(Input from various sources)

(Rehash/Sai Sindhuja K/MSM)