The Chennai police are on the lookout for an unidentified woman who is alleged to have kidnapped a 20-day-old girl from Government Raja Sir Ramaswamy Mudaliar Lying-in Hospital on Cemetery Road in Royapuram on Tuesday. The parents of the new-born, Manikandan and Indrani, are a couple from Washermenpet.

TOI reports that the police said the woman stole the infant at 1.30pm when her parents took her to the hospital for maternity assistance provided by the government. The other woman, who said she was pregnant was also waiting outside the block where Indrani and her husband were standing. The woman soon started chatting with the couple and befriended them, according to TOI.

TOI says,

After Indrani went inside the block to inquire about the procedure, leaving the girl with her husband, the woman asked Manikandan to guide the boy to an eatery while offering to look after the girl when he was away .

“She told Manikandan that she was not from the city and sought his help,“ an investigating officer said.

When Indrani came back, the woman sent her on an errand, asking her to get change for `100.

Indrani left the newborn with the woman but found upon returning that she had fled with the baby. Meanwhile, the boy in the eatery had also escaped. Alarmed, the couple approached the Royapuram police and lodged a complaint.

Police are on the lookout for a woman in her 30s. Police say several such instances have happened in the past and while there are CCTV cameras inside, there is no surveillance outside the premises.