A newborn baby boy, who was abducted by a woman from the government-run Niloufer Hospital here on Sunday, has died, police said on Wednesday.
The woman, who had abducted the baby after diverting his grandmother's attention, took him to Bandarupalli village in Nagarkurnool district.
Police suspect the baby died of illness the same day. Police arrested K. Manjula, who identified the place where the baby was buried.
Manjula, who married three years ago, had two miscarriages. She concealed the recent miscarriage from her husband and came to Hyderabad to steal a baby so that she could go back and claim it to be hers.
According to police, the accused befriended one Nirmala, who had delivered a baby boy at state-run Petlaburj Maternity Hospital here.
When Nirmala's mother Kalpana took the baby to Niloufer Hospital for treatment, she accompanied them.
At Niloufer, Manjula asked Kalpana to have tea but when the latter returned she had disappeared with the child. Kalpana lodged a complaint with the police.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Joel Davis said the special teams formed to crack the case identified the kidnapped with the help of CCTV footage.
She boarded an auto-rickshaw near the hospital to reach Afzalgunj bus station. The investigation revealed that she left for Nagakurnool district.
Meanwhile, the deceased child's father was in shock. The mother, who is still in Petlaburj Hospital, has not been informed of the child's death.
Police said the body would be exhumed for autopsy.
--IANS
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