Bengaluru psychiatrist arrested after kidnapping and selling infant for 16 lakh

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, Jun 01, 2021:      The Bengaluru police on Sunday arrested a doctor for allegedly kidnapping an infant from a hospital in Chamarajpet last year. The accused, identified as Dr Rashmi Shashikumar, had reportedly stolen an infant from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) maternity home in Chamarajpet, police said, adding that she had sold the infant to a couple who were consulting her for other issues. According to reports, the accused was employed as a psychiatrist in a private hospital on Bannerghatta Road and allegedly sold the infant for Rs 16 lakh. The doctor confessed to having committed the crime to repay her loans, police said.

 

Deputy Commissioner of Police, South Zone, Harish Pandey, told the media that the police had formed a team with 20 personnel to investigate the case. The accused was traced after a thorough analysis of phone calls by the team, he said. The police said that a couple was consulting the doctor for seven to eight years and she was helping them with their child, who had developed disabilities. The woman had expressed wanting another child but health issues prevented them from doing so. The accused doctor suggested that the couple opt for surrogacy. She purportedly lied to the couple saying that she could arrange for a surrogate mother and the due date was May 28, 2020, police said.

The doctor, as per reports, had visited three different facilities in the city when the due date was approaching, but in vain. The accused then went to a maternity home in Chamarajpet. The police said that she fled with a baby boy through the back gate, which was found during a preliminary investigation. The infant’s mother, Husna Banu and her husband Naveed, had approached the police after their relative saw that the infant was missing.

During the course of investigation, the police had a list of suspects and the accused doctor’s delay in recording her statement made the investigators grow suspicious of her, authorities said. The DCP further said that the couple was unaware of the doctor’s alleged crime. Pandey said that the baby will be handed over to its birth parents after the completion of formalities. Meanwhile, the team is still gathering information to complete the investigation.

Courtesy:The News Minute