Child theft case: Mother gets son after four days

BHUBANESWAR: Saraswati Sahu was eagerly waiting at the Childline office here on Sunday to see her three months baby son who was kidnapped by some miscreants in the wee hours of October 11 from the Railway Station here. She was not present at that time when the Government Railway Police staff handed over the kidnapped son to the Childline after rescuing from Nischintkoili area in Cuttack district on Saturday. Though police searched her from the capital city to her village at Angul district to recognise the baby son, but could not find her on the day. Police arrested one person in connection with the child theft case.

Sahu reached the office on Sunday with the help of GRP police and saw her son in the shelter home. The Childline would produce the baby son before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC). What decision the CWC would take that is final, said Childline coordinator Prarthna Bhuyan.

“The CWC committee would hold meeting tomorrow. The committee will hand over the child to his original mother after the meeting,” said Bhuyan.

It may be noted that on Thursday midnight, two bike-borne miscreants forcefully took away the baby son from Saraswati when she was taking rest at the railway station with her son. She lodged a complaint at the GRP police station about the kidnapping of her son. The GRP staff at first took the matter lightly, but after intervention of media they started an investigation to trace the baby.

The police rescued the baby from a couple of Gopapur village under Nischintkoili police station limit in Cuttack district on Saturday. The couple Surendra Behera and his wife Santoshi Behera had kept the child, said the GRP officials. The police arrested Mitu Behera of Kedargouri area in the city in connection with the case for stealing and then presenting the baby to his sister Santoshi.

With the help of Nischintkoili and Angul police, GRP staff rescued the baby and got the detail of Saraswati. She was abandoned by his husband after the marriage and a case was also lodged against her husband for leaving her helplessly. She gave birth to the son during last Rathyatra here, Sahu said.