Mumbai: 27-year-old arrested for ‘kidnapping’ toddler

The Police nabbed the accused from Ambedkar Nagar in Cuffe Parade on Monday evening. (Representational)

Mumbai police arrested a 27-year-old man for allegedly kidnapping an 18-month-old girl from south Mumbai. The police said the alleged accused kidnapped the toddler after her mother refused to marry him. According to police officers, in the wee hours on Monday the 20-year-old found her daughter missing from her hutment near Babulnath temple in south Mumbai. “Around midnight I went to sleep and my daughter was sleeping next to me. My mother, who was also around, went to sleep at 1.30am after watching a movie on her mobile phone,” the complainant told the police.

Around 2 am, the duo found the girl missing from their hutment. “We looked for her in the surrounding areas, but as we couldn’t locate her, we understood that she might have been picked up by someone while we were asleep,” the complainant told the police in her statement.

She then approached Gamdevi police station and registered a case of kidnapping, following which a team was dispatched to locate the toddler.

“We started looking for the toddler on a priority basis. We found a CCTV footage in which a man was seen holding the girl. With the help of footage, we came to know that the man has left the girl in the surrounding area. We located the girl and handed her over to her mother. But we had to trace the kidnapper as there was a possibility that he could kidnap the toddler again,” said an officer.

The Police nabbed the accused from Ambedkar Nagar in Cuffe Parade on Monday evening.

“During interrogation, accused Sachin Sudesh Walmiki confessed to the crime. Walmiki in his statement alleged that he decided to kidnap the toddler after her mother refused to marry him,” said an officer.

“After kidnapping the toddler, he contacted his friend, who asked him to drop her back, claiming that the police would be looking for him. The accused then just left the girl midway in Gamdevi and fled,” said an officer.

The toddler was sent for medical examination, which confirmed that she was not sexually exploited by the accused.

The accused has been booked under Section 363 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code. He was produced in Girgaon court and has been remanded in police custody.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Dyaneshwar Chavan (zone 2) confirmed the arrest of the alleged kidnapper. He said: “The girl has been rescued while our investigation is under process.”