Observing that kidnapping a newborn and keeping the infant away from mother’s milk is akin to “depriving the child of oxygen”, and thereby proves charges of culpable homicide, the Thane sessions court convicted and sentenced a couple and one other person to 5.6 years of rigorous imprisonment.
The court was hearing a 2018 case of abduction of a one-day old baby from Thane Civil Hospital. Judge G G Bhansali convicted Gudiya Rajbhar (35), Sonu Rajbhar (44) and Vijay Srivastav (52) for abduction and attempt to commit culpable homicide.
The accused couple have six children. The prosecution submitted that on January 13, 2018, the complainant mother was admitted to IGM Hospital in Bhiwandi, but later shifted to Thane Civil Hospital due to pregnancy complications. At around 11pm, she delivered a baby and was moved to the female ward along with the newborn. Later, at around 2am, Gudiya came to the ward and told the complainant that her mother was waiting outside to see the baby. Believing the woman to be a hospital staff, the mother handed over the baby to her. It was when the complainant’s sister visited her in the room and enquired about the baby that she realised the baby was kidnapped. Subsequently, a case was registered and probe initiated. On scanning CCTV cameras at the hospital, police pieced together the entire sequence of events.
This is a case of abduction. Where does homicide come into picture. What happens if the mother dies and the child survive during delivery? May be I have not understood the problem.
After abducting the baby, the accused went to Pisavali village in Kalyan. The crime branch unit-1 tracked and arrested the accused and rescued the baby. Eighteen witnesses testified in the court against the accused, and a DNA test also confirmed that the complainant and her husband are the biological parents of the child.
The judge concluded that the milk of the mother is oxygen to the newborn child. “..the separation of a newborn baby from its mother is a disconnection of oxygen for a baby,” the judge observed and imposed a sentence equivalent to the period the accused were in jail.
Source : The Times of India Dec 23rd 2023
