Hyderabad: Child kidnap cases on the rise, maternity wards turn hotspots

Hyderabad: A four-year-old boy, who was playing in front of his house in a residential area in Charminar, was kidnapped by a woman recently. The kidnapper from Madhya Pradesh planned to sell the baby to buyers whose profile ranges from begging racket to childless couples. The Nampally police rescued another four-month-old baby boy, who was abducted from his mother from the pavement recently. “The duo, Mohammed Mustaq and Mohammed Yousuf, lifted the baby as a relative wanted to adopt a child,” said V. Narendra, sub-inspector of the Nampally station.

“Mostly, this is done in an organised manner with the broker having a party ready to buy the child and the main centre of this nefarious activity is the maternity ward in hospitals. We should make sure that security at maternity wards is beefed up,” said Achyuta Rao, chief functionary of a city-based NGO for children. According to the south zone police, there have been more than 10 cases of child kidnapping so far this year and most of them were solved either before the babies were harmed or sold to begging racket. In September, the Trimulgherry police arrested a 24-year old-student for kidnapping an 11-year-old boy who threatened to kill the boy for a Rs 10 lakh ransom.

“Being an urban city, the kidnapping gangs find better options here. In most of the kidnapping cases in the city this year, children were abducted from houses and schools. In some cases, they were snatched away from parents, after diverting attention,” said a senior policeman from South Zone task force. In most of the cases the buyers were childless couples and the begging mafia.