Bengal police arrests woman for stealing newborn from Serampore's hospital during discharge

A newborn girl was brazenly snatched from her mother's lap by a stranger vanishing through the gates in broad daylight just as the family prepared to head home after a successful discharge from Serampore Walsh Hospital. Neha Kurmi, a resident of Konnagar's Ghoshal Bagan area, had given birth on last Thursday to a healthy baby daughter, and by today around 11:30 AM, discharge papers were ready amid joyful anticipation. With relatives stepping out to fetch a car, Neha sat waiting on a bench near the entrance, cradling her bundled infant—until a middle-aged woman approached with feigned affection, cooing about her own recent "grandchild" and smoothly lifting the baby from unsuspecting arms before bolting away. The mother's piercing screams alerts the hospital administration, triggering security chaos and an immediate police call.

This incident exposed glaring security lapses in hospital maternity wards.CCTV footage captured the woman's calculated escape: she slipped past the main gate and into a waiting toto rickshaw, heading toward Serampore's Nagar More as alarms blared behind her. Neha's sister-in-law, who had briefly left her side, returned to pandemonium—finding the mother hysterically screaming with the cradle being empty—prompting an instant flood of hospital guards and staff. Chandannagar police swung into high gear flooding the scene to orchestrate a multi-pronged pursuit: the suspect's image from video feeds was blasted across all units, checkpoints sprang up on key routes, and traffic teams fanned out in a frantic dragnet. Within a nail-biting hour, officers intercepted the toto at Serampore's Nagar More, wresting the unharmed infant from the woman's grasp and rushing her back to Neha's tearful embrace, a reunion that echoed with collective relief amid this mayhem.

The incident has ignited fierce scrutiny over hospital vulnerabilities, with demands for round-the-clock guards, stricter visitor protocols, and functional baby-tracking tags growing louder from distraught families and medical staff. Chandannagar Police detailed how the quick CCTV dissemination and naka checks turned the tide, noting the woman is now in custody facing intense interrogation to uncover her motives—whether desperation, mental distress, or something darker. As Neha clutches her daughter tighter, vowing never to let go, this close call reverberates as a wake-up call: in the fragile hours after birth, trust can be a thief's greatest ally, and safety must never be left to chance.