A 46-year-old woman was arrested last week for allegedly kidnapping a four-year-old boy from a footpath near Red Fort and abandoned him the same day after realising he is from different religion, police said on Monday. The child was rescued a day after he was kidnapped.
Deputy commissioner of police (north) Raja Banthia, said that Rachna Devi, a resident of Krishna Nagar in east Delhi, was nabbed from her residence on November 12.
Police said they were informed about the kidnapping at 1pm on November 7. On reaching the spot, the boy’s mother, Ruksana, told them that she stays with her son on the footpath near the parade ground. “She said that around 10.30am, she had gone to use the public toilet and on returning, her son was missing,” the police officer said.
A case on charges of kidnapping was registered.
While checking, police were informed on November 8 that a child had been lodged in an observation home in Shastri Park. Subsequently, the child was counselled, medically examined, and handed over to his mother, police said.
After scanning around 400 CCTV footage, the woman was found roaming in the area for long before she finally picked up the child and left when his mother was not around. “While tracing her route, a footage was found in which she was seen in an auto-rickshaw with the child. The auto driver was traced and he told the police that he had dropped her at Seelampur Chowk,” the officer said.
The woman was identified then arrested from her house on November 12.
During interrogation, she told police that she has two daughters and wanted a son but wasn’t able to conceive a child. “So she decided to kidnap a boy. She brought him home and realised that he wasn’t from the same religion as hers. She then abandoned him on a road in Shastri Park,” the officer said.
A passerby then spotted the boy crying on the road and informed a nearby shelter home where the child was then lodged, police said.